The Defence Headquarters has said a battle damage assessment of the recent United States airstrikes carried out in conjunction with Nigerian forces is still ongoing.
The clarification followed an announcement by United States President, Donald Trump, on Christmas Day that American forces had conducted lethal strikes against Islamic State targets in northwestern Nigeria. The Federal Government later confirmed the joint operation, describing it as part of sustained counterterrorism cooperation between both countries.
The development has generated debate within the country over the effectiveness of the strikes.
Speaking while fielding questions from journalists on Wednesday in Abuja, the Director of Defence Media Operations, Maj. Gen. Michael Onoja, said the military would make its findings public after the assessment was concluded.
“On the United States strikes in conjunction with Nigerian forces, there is a process of battle damage assessment. We are still in that process, and I can assure you that once that is completed, we will communicate to the public all our observations,” Onoja said.
Responding to questions on whether terrorists were present at the targeted locations, Onoja said intelligence reports confirmed their presence in the areas prior to the strikes.
“Terrorists are ubiquitous, and we cannot confine them to one location. Intelligence reports confirmed their presence in those areas before the strikes were conducted. The fact that it was not publicised is sometimes for operational security reasons,” he said.
The defence spokesman also disclosed that the military was monitoring the movement of terrorists outside the targeted locations and coordinating with field commanders to prevent their infiltration into nearby communities.
According to him, the armed forces are also engaging civilians to support security agencies with timely information, stressing that security challenges require collective effort.
“We are mobilising the civilian population to be vigilant and provide information to the military and other security agencies so that any movement of these terrorists can be acted on quickly. Security can only be addressed through the cooperation of every member of society,” Onoja said.
He further appealed to members of the public who may have taken possession of ammunition or fragments from the operation to return them to security agencies for safe recovery.
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“We don’t expect anybody to take away those materials. They should be returned to the military or security divisions so that they can be safely recovered,” he added.
Commenting on criticisms of the joint strikes, Onoja said it was not the responsibility of the armed forces to respond to every public opinion, noting that relevant agencies were tasked with addressing such concerns.
On recent incidents of suicide bombing, he said the arrest of a suspected attacker this week was significant in disrupting planned terrorist activities and logistics.
Onoja assured the public that the armed forces would sustain operations against terrorist groups into the new year.