X-raying the Chronicles of Nigerian Military Airstrike ‘Own Goals’

Following the killing of 85 civilians in Tudun Biri, Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State by a Nigerian Army airstrike during a Muslim celebration on Sunday, December 3, 2023, Sunday Ehigiator, who chronicled several of such miscalculated airstrikes by the military, reports that it’s an ‘Own Goal’, too many 

Picture this; there was a serious bandit attack in one of the communities in the North. For the survivors of the attack, they had taken solace that the military had been informed for them to take action.

With that assurance, the next day when the survivors and their families sighted military fighter jets hovering above them in the sky, they began to cheer. 

The buzzing sounds of the fighter jets faded only to return shortly and opened fire on the happy hitherto happy survivors. Taken unawares, they had nowhere to run as they were left at the mercy of the angry  bombs. The aftermath was a gory sight to behold. 

But this “accidental, miscalculated and grievous” own goal by the Nigerian Army (NA), didn’t happen in isolation. There have been such mishaps by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF). 

In fact, a report titled ‘Air Force Mishaps’ by SBM Intelligence, a research organisation that compiles and analyses data about happenings in the country, in February 2023, revealed that over 300 civilians have been killed in accidental airstrikes by the NAF since 2017. SBM said the airstrikes happened while the NAF was in pursuit of terrorists.

The report lamented that mishaps had increased in the last two years, adding that no compensation had been paid to victims’ families with  Niger, Yobe, Zamfara, Borno, Nasarawa, Kaduna, and Katsina as worst-hit states in the country.

The Kaduna Airstrike

The most recent of the accidental mishap is the Kaduna village bombing where 85 villagers in Tudun Biri of the Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State were disembodied after a bomb was dropped by the NA that fateful Sunday.

Residents of the affected communities said they were celebrating Maulud, an Islamic event, when the bombs were dropped by the military. This development has, however, triggered both local and international condemnation.

Following the incident a mass burial was conducted for the victims while the army claimed responsibility for dropping the bomb on the village.

The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, has, however, apologised to the relatives of victims of the accidental bombing.

Lagbaja also said an investigation into the incident, noting that the probe would allow the service to avert such situations in the future.

In addition, the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, who reiterated that it was not deliberate, rather, a case of human error, said all hands are on deck to ensure “that we take care of the community, take care of those that have been injured, and also ensure that this doesn’t happen again. 

“It was not deliberate. It was something that should not have been. We are going to move forward and we are using this opportunity (sic) to appreciate Nigerians for all their support and love for members of the armed forces and to assure them that we will continue to work very hard”.

Too Many Own Goals 

On January 17, 2017, a Nigerian Air Force jet mistakenly bombed an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp near the Cameroonian border in the Rann area of Borno State.

They had believed it was a Boko Haram encampment. The bombing left at least 115 people dead, including six Red Cross aid workers, and left more than 100 persons injured.

In April 2021, some soldiers were killed after a fighter jet belonging to the NAF fired a bomb on the ground troops they were providing air support for in Mainok, Borno state.

The jet hit the wrong coordinates while targeting Boko Haram insurgents who had attacked the troops some days earlier.

In January 2023, it was reported that 37 people including 27 pastoralists were killed after bombs exploded at the border linking Benue and Nasarawa States at the Doma Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.

In April 2022, a NAF fighter jet reportedly killed six children, when it fired a bomb targeted at terrorists in Kurebe village in Shiroro LGA of Niger State.

On July 7, 2022, 13 residents were injured while one other died after a NAF fighter jet struck Kunkuna village in the Safana LGA of Katsina

On September 28, 2021, about 20 fishermen were reportedly killed by a NAF airstrike in the Kwatar Daban Masara region of Lake Chad.

In another instance, seven children were said to have been killed in a border community in the Niger Republic following a Nigerian military airstrike targeting terrorists on February 20, 2022. The incident occurred in Nachade village, Maradi.

Maradi Leader, Chaibou Aboubacar, said the victims’ parents were attending a ceremony and “the children were probably playing” when the air strikes hit them.

There were reports that an air force fighter jet killed some wedding guests in Genu, Rijau LGA of Niger state in June 2021.

However, in his reactions then, NAF spokesperson, Edward Gabkwet, said the security agency had no record of unintended casualties apart from the bandits.

In July 2021, a NAF airstrike targeting bandits at the Sububu forest located between Shinkafi and Maradun LGAs of Zamfara reportedly hit and killed a woman and four of her children.

Though NAF confirmed it carried out operations in the said location, it denied that civilian casualties were recorded.

A few months later, a military airstrike killed at least nine people in Buhari village, Yunusari LGA of Yobe State.

NAF initially denied the incident which occurred on September 15, 2021. It later said the jet was targeting members of the Islamic State in West African Province (ISWAP) when the village was hit.

Residents in the village in a report culled from TheCable that they had not witnessed any insurgent attacks in three months, wondering how the mistake happened. They also said they were given only N10,000 as compensation.

On April 13, 2020, 17 people, including children, were killed after a NAF fighter jet bombed Sakotoku village in Damboa LGA of Borno State.

In July 2022, one person and 13 other residents of Kunkuna village in Safana LGA of Katsina State were reportedly killed and injured respectively, following an air strike conducted by NAF in July 2022.

A lawmaker, Abduljalal Haruna, in the Katsina State House of Assembly, said the incident occurred shortly after the attack on ex-President Muhammadu Buhari’s security team in the state.

It seemed it was not exactly a miscalculation when an undisclosed number of people in Dansadau district, Maru LGA of Zamfara state were killed during a raid by NAF.

The military air raid was conducted in Malele, Mutunji and other villages around Dansadau on December 19, 2022.

In his reaction, the then minister of information, Lai Mohammed, said the civilian victims were “collateral deaths”, and that it happens “once in a while.

“Fighting insurgency is a tough thing. And as much as the Air Force or the military are careful, once in a while, it does happen that, innocent people also suffer.”

In January 2023, several vigilante personnel in Galadima Kogo, Shiroro LGA of Niger state, numbering 30, were killed following multiple explosions in the area.

The local security men were at the location to ambush some bandits sighted around the area when a jet allegedly belonging to the Air Force struck many of them dead. It is yet to be ascertained who exactly sanctioned or carried out the airstrike.

Also in January 2023, at least 27 people were reported dead following an explosion in Kwateri, a community between Benue and Nasarawa states in January.

The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) said the airstrike occurred after some herders went to get 1,250 of their cows impounded by the Benue livestock guards.

A day after the accident, Abdullahi Sule, governor of Nasarawa, said the explosion in Kwateri was not carried out by a NAF aircraft.

The NAF would later claim responsibility for the strikes but maintained that no civilians were killed.

On April 10, 2019, the Nigerian Air Force released a 47-second video on a military offensive it carted out in Zamfara, claiming to have killed dozens of armed terrorists in the state. On its official Facebook and Twitter pages, the Air Force accompanied the short video with a statement giving details of the operation they said lasted three days.

According to the report, the intensive operation by the ATF conducted coordinated air raids against multiple identified armed bandits’ hideouts at Doumborou, Sububu, West Malamawa, Baturia Pond and Rugu Forest, where several bandits were neutralised and their camps destroyed.

The news about the destruction of several terror camps by the air force was exciting, only that it was deceptive. The military issued several press statements on the bombardment of terrorists’ hideouts but failed to mention Tangaram, where six innocent civilians died.

The air force had told the Tangaram villagers they were trailing two bandits who ran into the village.

Recalling the incident, Tangaram’s Village Chief, Shu’aibu Abubakar, said, “I asked them if it was fair to launch an attack on hundreds of villagers because of two bandits, but there was no answer,” Mr Abubakar said, appearing to be angry that the air fighters apologised discreetly, only to tell a misleading story to the public.

But beyond these constant apologies and promises to investigate, which is never made public, stakeholders have charged the military hierarchy on preserving the sanctity of life of Nigerians.

As President Bola Tinubu has ordered a probe into the circumstances leading to the airstrike in Kaduna, Nigerians await trial and prosecution of everyone found complacent in the incidents, and every previous mishap. 

Quote

It was not deliberate. It was something that should not have been. We are going to move forward and we are using this opportunity (…sic) to appreciate Nigerians for all their support and love for members of the armed forces and to assure them that we will continue to work very hard