The Senate on Tuesday expressed concern over the reported United States airstrikes on Nigerian territory, with Bauchi Central Senator Abdul Ningi declaring that the National Assembly was neither informed nor consulted before the operation.
Raising a point of order during plenary, Ningi warned that the development raised grave questions about Nigeria’s sovereignty and constitutional order. He argued that allowing foreign military action on Nigerian soil without parliamentary knowledge exposed the country to strategic vulnerability and external pressure.
The lawmaker insisted that the Senate must assert its oversight role, describing the airstrikes as a potential breach of the constitution. He called for the immediate summoning of the nation’s service chiefs to explain the circumstances surrounding the operation and to clarify how Nigeria’s territorial integrity was managed.
“The Senate should order the service chiefs to brief the Senate on the territorial integrity of the country,” Ningi said, stressing that lawmakers were completely unaware of the strikes.
He further questioned the legal basis for the action, contending that no foreign power had the authority to independently bomb targets within Nigeria, even under the guise of counter-terrorism.
The intervention followed an announcement by United States President Donald Trump that American forces had carried out what he described as a “powerful and deadly” airstrike against ISIS-affiliated terrorists in northwest Nigeria.
While the Nigerian government later acknowledged that it provided intelligence support for the operation, the revelation has triggered unease within the legislature, highlighting the delicate balance between international security cooperation and national sovereignty.
