The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has dismissed claims by a senior United States official that American forces seized a large cache of electronic intelligence from terrorists during an operation in Nigeria, clarifying that the materials were voluntarily shared by Nigerian authorities under an existing counter-terrorism partnership.

The Director of Defence Information, Brig. Gen. Samalia Uba, said the intelligence consisted of declassified materials from previous counter-terrorism operations conducted by the Nigerian Armed Forces and was released to the United States as part of ongoing security cooperation.

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Speaking in an interview with Premium Times, Uba explained that the intelligence was not captured independently by American troops, contrary to claims made by US Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Counterterrorism at the National Security Council, Sebastian Gorka.

“The materials were given to the US,” Uba said, stressing that the exchange formed part of the longstanding security collaboration between both countries.

Uba described the intelligence-sharing arrangement as a routine aspect of the Nigeria-US counter-terrorism partnership and not evidence of an American operation that independently recovered intelligence from terrorist camps.

“It is not a new operation,” he said.

“We have previously communicated our highly successful joint operations in May. Nigeria-US joint operations and collaboration are very much on course.”

His comments represent the first official response by Nigerian authorities following Gorka’s remarks.

The controversy stemmed from comments made by Gorka in late June, during which he claimed American forces killed 199 jihadists in a Nigerian operation and recovered what he described as the largest volume of enemy electronic intelligence since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

“I watched our operators kill 199 jihadis in one operation and seize an unprecedented volume of intelligence materials,” Gorka said.

He further claimed that the operation yielded so much intelligence that an additional aircraft was required to transport the recovered electronic equipment.

“From that Nigerian raid, we needed an extra plane to bring home all the electronic material that we captured in those camps. The haul was three times bigger than any enemy electronics haul since 9/11,” he stated.

Although Gorka did not identify the operation, his description appeared to correspond with the joint Nigeria-US mission announced in May that resulted in the elimination of a senior Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) commander, Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, also known as Abubakar Mainok.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also defended Nigeria’s decision to share intelligence with the United States, describing the arrangement as a normal component of international counter-terrorism cooperation.

The ministry’s spokesperson, Kimiebi Ebienfa, said the information was provided to enable US authorities better understand terrorist activities and strengthen joint security efforts.

“I don’t think it is an indictment that we shared this information with them,” Ebienfa said.

“Sharing intelligence is part of the counter-terrorism cooperation Nigeria has with the US. We share intelligence with them, especially with the arrival of their troops on our soil to help combat terrorist attacks.”

He added that the Federal Government remained focused on tackling insecurity rather than publicising every aspect of its security collaboration with foreign partners.

Meanwhile, weeks after the joint operation, the United States imposed sanctions on Lagos-based bureau de change operator Mukhtar Adamu, accusing him of facilitating financial transactions for ISWAP.

The sanctions also targeted Nine To Nine Exchange Bureau De Change Limited, Generation Currency Bureau De Change Limited and Manhattan Bureau De Change Limited.

Nigeria subsequently imposed similar sanctions on Adamu and the affected companies as part of efforts to disrupt terrorist financing networks.