Ejimakor slammed the President Bola Tinubu-led Nigerian Government for contradicting its earlier position on the source of intelligence that led to the operation.
Human rights lawyer and lead counsel to Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Barrister Aloy Ejimakor, has berated the Nigerian government over its inconsistent and embarrassing claims on the recent United States military airstrike in Sokoto State.
Ejimakor was reacting to trending reports which originated from The New York Times where the Nigerian government reversed itself and blamed an Onitsha-based “screwdriver” salesman and a Catholic faithful and founder of the International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law (Intersociety), Emeka Umeagbalasi, for publishing unverified claims on Christian genocide in Nigeria, which led to the U.S. military strikes.
This is despite the fact that the Nigerian had earlier taken credit for providing intelligence and working together with the United States to carry out the December 2025 military strikes in Sokoto state.
In his reaction, Ejimakor slammed the President Bola Tinubu-led Nigerian Government for contradicting its earlier position on the source of intelligence that led to the operation.
In a post on his X (formerly Twitter) account, the lawyer decried the fact that the Nigerian government had initially taken credit for providing actionable intelligence to the United States, only to later attribute the information to an obscure civilian source.
He wrote, "Previously, the Nigerian government claimed the CREDIT for providing the intelligence for the US airstrike in Sokoto.
"Now, the same government (through its $9m lobbyists) has contradicted itself by shifting the CREDIT to a 'screwdriver trader'. This is a national embarrassment."
The comment has further highlighted controversy trailing the U.S. airstrike, which has remained a subject of intense public scrutiny.
The Nigerian government had, in the immediate aftermath of the operation, claimed that local security agencies played a decisive role in identifying the target.
However, recent media narratives claimed that a private individual, the Intersociety chairman, who The New York Times report described as a screwdriver trader, was instrumental in circulating the information and research reports that prompted and guided the U.S. military action in Nigeria.
Ejimakor argued that the shifting narratives undermine Nigeria’s credibility and expose the country’s manipulative role of highly paid foreign lobbyists in managing the country’s image.
According to him, the attempt to rewrite the story raises serious questions about transparency, sovereignty, and the integrity of national security communication.
While the report by The New York Times continues to spread across Nigeria and beyond, the development has also revived debates on Nigeria’s security partnership with the United States and the growing influence of international public relations firms engaged by the government.
(2) aloy ejimakor on X: "Previously, the Nigerian government claimed the CREDIT for providing the intelligence for the US airstrike in Sokoto. Now, the same government (thru its $9m lobbyists) has contradicted itself by shifting the CREDIT to a “screwdriver trader”. This is a national embarrassment. https://t.co/6aApDfMxr1" / X