RipplesMetrics: Trends in ‘accidental’ military airstrike in Nigeria

Villagers of Tudun Biri, a local community in the Igabi Local Government area of Kaduna State, on December 3 gathered to celebrate Maulud, the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad when a military bomb, which was on a routine counter-terrorism operation, dropped on them.

The military claimed that their movement was mistaken for suspected bandits. The airstrike was reported to have killed over 80 people with several people sustaining injuries, including women and children.

The Nigerian Military had earlier denied the airstrike but later claimed it was accidental. This forced the president to launch an investigation into the incident.

Ripples Nigeria reported how members of the House of Representatives said it would monitor the investigation into accidental airstrike. At the same time, other lawmakers in the upper chamber who visited the communities donated their monthly salaries to victims’ families.

Also, lawyers under the auspices of the Concerned Northern Forum have threatened to file a suit against the federal government.

The coalition said, “It is imperative that those responsible are held accountable for their actions, and measures are put in place to prevent any recurrence of such incidents in the future. We also urge the Nigerian Army to reevaluate its rules of engagement and training procedures to prevent the loss of innocent lives during military operations. It is vital that the Nigerian Army, as a defender of the nation, exercises utmost caution to avoid any further instances of collateral damage and civilian casualties.”

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According to Section 33 of the Nigerian 1999 constitution, “Every person has a right to life, and no one shall be deprived intentionally of his life” but the deaths of these civilians have heated questions on the operation of the Nigerian Military, known to be the defence of the country.

While this is not the first time an ‘accidental’ airstrike would be carried out by the military, RipplesMetrics gathered that more than 300 people have been killed between 2017 and 2023 connected to these incidents. For most of these incidents, a series of investigations have been launched but this has yielded fewer results.

RipplesMtrics also learnt that 15 accidental airstrikes have occurred within seven years in eight states within the northern region.

The trends

In January 2017, more than 50 people were killed by the Nigerian Air Force following an accidental bomb on an Internally Displaced Person camp on a Cameroonian border in Renn, Borno State. Reports say that more than 120 persons were injured in the incident.

Three years later, another bomb from the Nigerian Airforce killed more than 15 people in Sakotuku village, Damboa Local government in Borno State in April 2020. The Air Force was said to have accidentally dropped a bomb that killed mostly women and children in the village.

In 2021, a fighter jet belonging to the Air Force that was said to be targeting Boko Haram insurgents got the wrong coordinates and killed about 30 soldiers in Maniok, Borno State.

Another incident in June of the same year occurred when an aerial bombardment of the Nigerian Air Force killed wedding guests in Genu, Niger State. Also in July, an accidental airstrike from NAF killed a woman and her four children in Sububu, Zamfara State.

In September, 10 villagers were killed following a military jet that bombed a village in Yunusari of Yobe State. Also, in the same month, at least 20 fishermen were killed by a NAF airstrike in Kwatar Daban Mascara, Lake Chad.

In February 2022, the NAF airstrike killed seven children while targeting bandits in Nachade village in Niger Republic. Five others were reported to have sustained injuries.

The following month, March 2022, at least six children were killed by NAF airstrike in Kuregba community, Shiroro Local Government, Niger State.

In July 2022, another 13 civilians sustained injuries following an airstrike in Kunkuna village of Safana Local Government, Katsina state.

By December of the same year, another two airstrikes were reported. While the first only damaged the proprieties of residents in Kaduna State, the other killed at least 64 people, with many others sustaining injury, in Mutumji Community, Maru LGA, Zamfara State.

This year, 2023, besides the recent airstrike in December, two accidental airstrikes were reported on January 24.

In the Galadima community, Shiroro LGA of Niger State, an unidentified number of persons of the Joint Security Task Force were allegedly killed. On the same day, another air force operation killed at least 46 people in Rukubi, Nasarawa State near the Benue border.

By James Odunayo

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