Nigerians express outrage over yet another fatal airstrike targeting civilians

In Tungar Kara, a town in northwestern Nigeria, residents expressed their support and offered prayers for local vigilantes preparing to confront an armed gang in a nearby forest last Saturday. However, before the vigilantes could embark on their mission, an airstrike conducted by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) struck the town. While the NAF claimed the strike was aimed at the armed group, local residents reported that 15 civilians, including members of the vigilante group and innocent bystanders, lost their lives.

The military has increasingly resorted to aerial attacks in response to the escalating threat posed by armed criminal gangs, referred to as bandits, in Nigeria’s northwest and central regions. These gangs are notorious for killing villagers and executing mass kidnappings. However, this military campaign is reportedly inflicting significant harm on Nigerian civilians and diminishing their support for the armed forces, according to residents and analysts.

Salihu Usman, a vigilante responsible for safeguarding the town, recounted his experience during the airstrike. He was praying when he heard a jet overhead, followed by a deafening explosion that left him injured on the ground.

“Now, whenever I see a military aircraft flying during the day, I perceive it as a threat to my life,” Usman stated, describing severe injuries, including a partially ripped open stomach and various lacerations. “Bandits kill us, and the military bombed us from the sky.” The NAF has not responded to inquiries from Reuters but issued a statement on Monday denying any intention to target civilians and promising to investigate the airstrike on Tungar Kara, located in the remote Zamfara state.

Haliru Attahiru, a 30-year-old farmer, expressed skepticism regarding the airstrike, asserting that it could not have been an accident. “How is it possible to bomb a town while ignoring the forest where the bandits are located?” he remarked during a phone interview with Reuters.

In December, an airstrike in the neighboring Sokoto state resulted in the deaths of 10 individuals, an incident the state governor described as a tragic error targeting civilians. This event is part of a troubling trend of lethal aerial assaults by the military, which have led to civilian casualties, a topic highlighted in a special report by Reuters in June 2023.

Oluwole Ojewale, a researcher at the Institute for Security Studies, noted, “If the community realizes that they are not being protected from the bandits and are instead becoming collateral damage due to the air force’s operations, their support for the military will likely diminish.”

Usman, who narrowly escaped a similar situation, has decided not to return to his vigilante group. He now harbors distrust towards the military and questions the legitimacy of the airstrike, stating, “I even suspect they may have colluded to harm us,” as he conveyed to Reuters.