The Presidency has clarified that the recent strike targeted at terrorists in Sokoto was a joint operation between Nigeria and the United States and was not targeted at any ethnic or religious group.

Special adviser to the president on policy communication, Daniel Bwala, made the clarification in a statement on his X handle yesterday.

"For clarity, I spoke with Sky News on this: yesterday's strike was a joint Nigeria-U.S. operation which was built on weeks of collaboration, intelligence sharing and surveillance," Bwala said.

He stated that Nigeria played a key role in the operation, particularly in intelligence and coordination.

"Nigeria played a key intelligence role, with coordination before and after the strike," he said.

Bwala stressed that the operation was part of ongoing efforts to end terrorism and should not be interpreted as ethnic or religious targeting.

"This is part of sustained efforts to end terrorism and should not be seen as ethnic or religious targeting," he said.

He added that the government's focus remains on criminals.

"The government is only interested in targeting criminals," Bwala said.