Nigeria’s First Lady, Remi Tinubu, has called on the United States to intensify military strikes against armed groups in northern Nigeria, describing the Christmas Day bombing carried out by U.S. forces as “a blessing”.
Mrs Tinubu made the remarks during an interview in the United States, where she spoke about Nigeria’s security challenges and the need for stronger international cooperation to combat terrorism and banditry.
“Nigeria is looking forward to collaboration,” she said. “We are expecting that there will be more. It was quite a blessing.”
Her comments were in reference to U.S. military strikes conducted on Christmas Day against what American authorities described as terrorist targets in northern Nigeria. The operation was reportedly authorised by former U.S. President Donald Trump.
When asked directly about the Christmas Day bombing, the First Lady repeated her position, saying, “It was quite a blessing.”
Mrs Tinubu made the comments while attending events in the United States, including the National Prayer Breakfast, where she interacted with political and religious leaders.
In earlier remarks, Mr Trump had defended the strikes and warned that further U.S. military action could follow if attacks on Christians continued. “I’d love to make it a one-time strike,” he said, “but if they continue to kill Christians, it will be a many-time strike.”
The former U.S. president also said the strikes targeted extremist groups he accused of killing Christians in northern Nigeria, adding that the action was taken under his authority as commander-in-chief.