By Chibuike Nwabuko
ABUJA (PRECISE POST) – Former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, has fired back at Senator Shehu Sani’s remarks on the New York Times report alleging that U.S. airstrikes in parts of Sokoto State were influenced by an unverified claim of “Christian genocide.”
Precise Post recalls that Shehu Sani had on earlier on on his X handle, while reacting to a report by New York Times (NYT) said:
“It’s unfortunate and tragic to read the New York Times report that the claim of ‘Christian Genocide’ was sourced from one Emeka, an Onitcha based Screwdriver Trader and ‘operator of a small NGO’ who falsely claimed to have documented “125 thousand Christian deaths” using “google searches”. How such an unverified claim could tensed up the US lawmakers, President and the intelligence community, that led to an airstrikes is one of the most foolish and comical historical events in our lifetime. This is shameful.”
Reacting sharply on his facebook page on Monday, Fani-Kayode dismissed the suggestion that the United States would rely on intelligence from an Onitsha-based screwdriver trader who allegedly gathered casualty figures through Google searches.
According to him, anyone who believes such a narrative grossly misunderstands how intelligence and military operations work.
He described the New York Times report as a deliberately misleading attempt to ridicule and undermine both Nigerian and U.S. governments, calling it “puerile, childish, and disingenuous.”
Fani-Kayode insisted that no sovereign nation would permit its territory to be bombed, nor would the U.S. carry out airstrikes, based on information supplied by a private individual with no credible intelligence standing.
The former Aviation minister stressed that the airstrikes were carried out through direct collaboration between the United States and Nigeria’s Armed Forces and intelligence agencies. He cited statements by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar, who confirmed that the intelligence used for the operation came from the Nigerian government itself.
He further claimed personal knowledge of the events, stating that he spoke with Ambassador Tuggar shortly after the bombing and was briefed on the intelligence and operational buildup that led to the strike.
Fani-Kayode therefore, condemned the New York Times story as “fake news” and “infantile hogwash,” arguing that it deserves no serious consideration and should be discarded altogether.
