We handed electronic materials recovered from terrorists to US forces – Nigerian Military
Nigerian Military Refutes U.S. Claims of Seized Intelligence
The Nigerian military has rejected assertions made by a senior U.S. official regarding the seizure of electronic materials from terrorists during an operation in Nigeria. The official claimed that American forces took the materials from the country for analysis.
Brigadier General Samalia Uba, Director of Defence Information, clarified that the materials in question consisted of declassified intelligence from past counter-terrorism operations carried out by the Nigerian Armed Forces. He emphasized that these materials were voluntarily supplied to the United States as part of an ongoing counterterrorism collaboration between the two nations.
Uba stated that the intelligence was not captured by U.S. forces but rather released by the Nigerian government under an established security partnership. “The materials were given to the U.S.,” he said, reinforcing the notion that this exchange was a continuation of the longstanding cooperation between Nigeria and the United States.
This response marks the first official statement from Nigerian authorities following comments made by Sebastian Gorka, the U.S. Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Counterterrorism at the National Security Council. Gorka had claimed that U.S. operators killed 199 jihadists during the operation and recovered what he described as the largest cache of enemy electronic intelligence since the September 11 attacks.
“I watched our operators kill 199 jihadis in one operation and seize an unprecedented volume of intelligence materials,” Gorka stated.
In his response, Uba insisted that the intelligence exchange should not be misconstrued as U.S. forces independently capturing materials from terrorists in Nigeria. “It is not a new operation,” he said, noting previous successful joint operations conducted in May. He reaffirmed that Nigeria-U.S. joint operations and collaboration remain active.
