Sunday Aborisade in Abuja
Former Governor of Sokoto State and Senator representing Sokoto South Senatorial District, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, has urged Nigeria to exercise caution in relying on foreign military interventions to tackle terrorism.
He warned that such efforts have produced mixed results in other parts of the world.
Tambuwal spoke on ARISE News Channel’s News Night following reports of a United States airstrike in collaboration with Nigerian security forces, on suspected terrorists’ enclaves in Sokoto State early Friday.
While calling on residents to remain calm and support security agencies, the senator stressed that Nigeria must be circumspect in its engagement with foreign powers in the fight against terrorism.
He said, “If history is anything to go by, such interventions have not been able to achieve much in some of the areas where they were carried out.
“So, we must be very careful and ensure that no hidden agenda is pursued.”
He clarified that information available to him from top security authorities indicated that the airstrike did not take place in Tambuwal Local Government Area, as widely reported, but rather targeted an enclave in Tangaza Local Government Area of Sokoto State.
The former governor warned against politicising or giving religious interpretation to the operation, insisting that terrorism posed a threat to all Nigerians irrespective of region or belief.
He said, “This is not a religious war, it is not an ethnic war. It is about securing the lives and property of Nigerians.
“Terrorists are nobody’s friends, and we must avoid narratives that divide us,” he said.
Tambuwal recalled that during his tenure as governor, his administration confronted the activities of the Lakurawa terrorist group in parts of Tangeza, Gudu and Binji Local Government Areas through coordinated operations involving the Nigerian Army, the Department of State Services and other security agencies.
According to him, those operations were largely successful, pushing the group out of the area for several years.
Responding to calls by Islamic scholar, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, for Nigeria to halt cooperation with the United States, Tambuwal said while divergent opinions were expected in a democracy, Nigeria should seek assistance where it could obtain genuine support without ulterior motives.
“We should seek help where we can get genuine help and without any undertone,” he said.
The senator further argued that if international collaboration was to be pursued, it must be comprehensive and extend to other terrorism-prone states such as Borno, Zamfara, Katsina and Kaduna.
He said doing so was to avoid the impression that Sokoto was being unfairly singled out.
Tambuwal added that terrorism was no longer a localised Nigerian problem but a transnational challenge spanning the Sahel region, from Mali to Niger and Burkina Faso, requiring a carefully coordinated and transparent global response.
