The Minister of Defence, retired Gen. Christopher Musa, has explained that no physical remains of terrorists were recovered after recent United States airstrikes in Nigeria due to the nature of the weapons deployed.
Musa made the clarification on Thursday while speaking on Prime Time, an Arise Television programme.
According to him, the terrorists were neutralised using advanced weaponry, including Tomahawk missiles, which left no visible traces.
“They wouldn’t know, because the way they were neutralised, you wouldn’t see anything. It’s a new kind of weapon that was used, the Tomahawks,” the minister said.
Reacting to reports that some of the missiles did not explode, Musa said such outcomes were part of military tactics.
“That is all part of the tactics. In conflict attack, you deceive your enemy. Those are all part of it,” he said.
The defence minister assured Nigerians that the operations had yielded positive results and that more successes would be recorded.
“At least Nigerians are seeing the results, and they will see more things coming ahead,” he said.
Musa also disclosed that Nigerian security forces carried out coordinated operations alongside the U.S. airstrikes.
“As the U.S. operation was ongoing, the Nigerian Air Force, the Nigerian Navy and the Nigerian Army were also neutralising a lot of other areas,” he said.
He added that significant achievements had been recorded since January.
“In fact, from within January, a lot has been achieved,” Musa said.