Watch and Learn - US strikes on Nigeria: Nigerian presidential adviser isn't sure who was targeted in airstrikes

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United States saying it's launched air

strikes at Islamic State militants in

Nigeria with defense secretary Pete

Hexith warning over more to come. The US

Hexith warning over more to come The US

President Donald Trump said the strikes

were targeting what he called terrorist

scum accusing is of killing innocent

Christians. More on this. We're joined

Christians More on this We're joined

by Dangabala, a special adviser to the

by Dangabala a special adviser to the

Nigerian president Bolatonubu. Uh good

Nigerian president Bolatonubu Uh good

to see you. I appreciate you uh sharing

to see you I appreciate you uh sharing

your time with us today. Thank you for

your time with us today Thank you for

your time. We we've heard these these

your time We we've heard these these

two statements and read these two

statements on social media from Donald

Trump and Pete Hexath as well. Since

Trump and Pete Hexath as well Since

then, relatively little information from

then relatively little information from

the perspective of the United States.

the perspective of the United States

What can you tell us from your

perspective?

perspective

>> Well, uh thank you for having me and

>> Well uh thank you for having me and

good evening to the viewers. Uh the

good evening to the viewers Uh the

conduct of the operation is joint. uh

conduct of the operation is joint uh

because if you recall that um we have

over the last few weeks developed uh

good collaborative relationship with the

US government where our delegation

visited DC and there on visited Nigeria.

visited DC and there on visited Nigeria

So it's part of the ongoing joint

intelligence sharing and joint

collaboration for the fight against

terrorism. So the uh operation that took

terrorism So the uh operation that took

place yesterday was actually a joint

operation.

operation

>> A joint operation that the the physical

strikes appear to have been conducted by

the United States. What what exactly was

the United States What what exactly was

the the role that Nigeria played in

this?

this

>> The role that Nigerian plays is

intelligence sharing. uh when something

intelligence sharing uh when something

is said to be a joint operation, my

is said to be a joint operation my

understanding is that it involves

investigation, surveillance,

investigation surveillance

intelligence sharing and the final stage

of the operation itself and all of these

processes were conducted alongside with

the Nigerian counterpart and then uh of

course the the the the result was the

strike that we saw yesterday. There was

strike that we saw yesterday There was

a communication before the strike

between the foreign secretary of the

United States Marubio and the foreign

affairs minister of Nigeria. And shortly

affairs minister of Nigeria And shortly

after the conduct of the strike, there

after the conduct of the strike there

was also a phone call and the

communication to that effect. This is in

communication to that effect This is in

spite of the fact that uh defense

ministry as well as the department of

war have been in collaboration and uh

communication long before now. And we

communication long before now And we

are hoping that this is not an operation

that will end now, but it will be part

that will end now but it will be part

of the ongoing operations that will put

an end to this terrorism in Nigeria.

an end to this terrorism in Nigeria

We're hearing from the United States

perspective Donald Trump's words that

they were targeting is scum. That was

they were targeting is scum That was

the the quote directly from him. Can you

the the quote directly from him Can you

give us more details on on exactly who

was the target there? Was it Islamic

was the target there Was it Islamic

State militants themselves or are these

groups that are aligned to Islamic

State? What more information do you

State What more information do you

have? You say you shared intelligence.

have You say you shared intelligence

What intelligence can you share with us

at the moment?

at the moment

Well, this is uh this comes down to the

Well this is uh this comes down to the

issue of the laws and what the law

permit in each uh state. I'm sure that

permit in each uh state I'm sure that

the American government have

jurisdictional power over operation

against ISIS and the ancillaries around

the world. They may not have specific

the world They may not have specific

authorization by the Congress to fight

terrorist organizations that are not

designated as such. In Nigeria, both the

designated as such In Nigeria both the

Lacurawa, the Boko Haram and thearies

Lacurawa the Boko Haram and thearies

have been designated as terrorist

organization. Therefore, we consider

organization Therefore we consider

them all as part of the you know act of

terrorism against the state. So, uh I I

terrorism against the state So uh I I

believe that that's the understanding

that the American government had. But,

that the American government had But

uh this is sketchy, right? In the coming

uh this is sketchy right In the coming

days or hours, we are going to have more

days or hours we are going to have more

intelligence and more report about exact

target whether it were the members of

the ISIS or were the members of Lurawa

or the members of the bandit. So, but um

or the members of the bandit So but um

whether ISIS, Lawra or Bandit, they are

whether ISIS Lawra or Bandit they are

all terrorists. They're terrorists.

all terrorists They're terrorists

>> The Trump administration has been

critical from its perspective of the

what it would call persecution. I'm sure

what it would call persecution I'm sure

that would be the phrase they would use

of Christians in the country. What is

of Christians in the country What is

the response of of the Nigerian

government? Because many other analysts

government Because many other analysts

will say that that when it comes to the

groups you've you've mentioned, they

groups you've you've mentioned they

target people indiscriminately. It's not

target people indiscriminately It's not

just Christians who are targets and

victims. It is also Muslim communities.

victims It is also Muslim communities

It is is communities across the country.

It is is communities across the country

What is your response to the the

criticisms laid against you by the White

House and Washington DC?

House and Washington DC

>> Well, we made that clear from the

>> Well we made that clear from the

beginning and I think that our

collaboration now is on the basis of

disagree to agree. So, uh what I mean by

disagree to agree So uh what I mean by

disagree to agree is that one, we both

disagree to agree is that one we both

disagree on one thing. They believe it

disagree on one thing They believe it

is a targeted killing of Christians. And

is a targeted killing of Christians And

we have maintained the position which is

backed up by data that there is no

targeting of a particular religion

because evidence and data showed that

all people of all faith in Nigeria and

even those who have not identified with

faith have become victims. Even the

faith have become victims Even the

operations in the northwestern Nigeria,

operations in the northwestern Nigeria

most of the casualties there are

Muslims. So we as a country know that

Muslims So we as a country know that

there is no targeting of Christians and

that's why we maintain that it is a

fight against those elements that are

against the peace of our state

irrespective of their religious or

ethnic background. But you can

ethnic background But you can

understand with America they also want

to speak to their demographics and I

believe that the statement of Donald

Trump through true social is

communicating to the American society

and so that is the opinion that they

hold and they act on the basis of that.

hold and they act on the basis of that

We also have the opinion that terrorism

in Nigeria is not specifically targeting

a tribe or a religion. And we know that

a tribe or a religion And we know that

because as a responsible government, we

because as a responsible government we

cannot afford to say or agree with the

notion that is a targeting of Christians

when the evidence is showing otherwise.

when the evidence is showing otherwise

Otherwise, it will result in deeper and

Otherwise it will result in deeper and

broader conflict in our uh geographical

uh location.

uh location

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