In what has been termed another human error, a Nigerian military fighter jet has mistakenly struck and killed about 20 men of a vigilante group during an operation targeting bandits in Garin Mani, a village in the Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State.
The tragic incident occurred after armed bandits attacked the village, killing several residents and abducting over 50 others, mostly farmers who were working on their fields.
But a concerned Nigerian captures this one too many curious airt strikes in this manner:
“1st time – happenstance, 2nd time – mistake, 3rd time – enemy action, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th time ………….”
Eyewitnesses said the attackers stormed the area on motorcycles around noon, shooting indiscriminately and causing widespread panic.
In response, local vigilante groups mobilised and began chasing the fleeing assailants.
However, a military aircraft deployed to the scene allegedly misidentified the vigilantes as bandits and launched airstrikes on them.
“We were pursuing the bandits when we saw the fighter jet approaching,” one of the vigilantes told BBC Hausa.
“It flew very low and started bombing us. Some of us survived by pretending we had been hit. When the jet left, we got up and fled to safety.”
Another resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed the incident and expressed disappointment over the lack of communication from the military.
“We understand it was an unfortunate mistake, but the military should acknowledge what happened and reach out to the victims’ families,” he said.
He also appealed to the government to deploy additional troops to the area, as the bandits had threatened to return.
This is not the first time such an incident has occurred. In January, an airstrike mistakenly killed 16 people, including vigilantes, in Tungar Kara, also in Zamfara.
Less than three weeks after a military airstrike in Sokoto state reportedly killed 10 villagers on December 25, 2024, an airstrike in Zamfara state has resulted in more accidental deaths. The victims, who the military wrongly identified as bandits, were members of a local vigilante group and farmers in the vicinity of Tungar Kara village, Zurmi Local Government Area.
Similar airstrikes have killed hundreds of people in Nigeria. They have been carried out during operations against bandit gangs that emerged from years of conflict between farming and herding communities in Nigeria’s northwest. The military has called the killings of ordinary people accidental, but such deaths have become a recurring feature of these airstrikes.
Besides the costly human toll, these mistakes are indicative of significant failures in operational protocol and military oversight.
The Nigerian Air Force, which carried out the Tungar Kara airstrike, claims that the strike dealt a “decisive blow” to bandits in the area but also expressed “grave concern” about “reports of the loss of civilian lives.” The air force says it has launched a “comprehensive investigation” into the incident. However, similar promises by military authorities to ensure justice and accountability for airstrikes in the past have yielded little to no results.
In a statement on January 12, the Zamfara state government, while expressing condolences for the mistaken deaths, also commended what it called the military’s “successful” strike.
A Tungar Kara villager, one of the first on the scene, told Human Rights Watch that he found 17 dead bodies and over 30 others injured.
A 52-year-old farmer who sustained injuries described how, a few minutes after seeing the vigilantes ride past his farm on motorcycles, a sand-colored jet appeared in the sky above them. “The area became dusty and smoky, the reverberation was so loud, then I realized bombs had been dropped on them. Due to my proximity, I was hit by shrapnel,” he said.
Is it not time President Bola Tinubu urgently works with the military leadership to address the escalating number of civilian lives claimed by airstrikes? Security forces should be held accountable for any and all abuses. Next steps should include reforming military operational protocols and oversight, ensuring justice for victims, and measures to better protect innocent people during security operations.
As of the time of filing this report, the Nigerian military has yet to issue an official statement on the latest incident.
