December 29, (THEWILL) – For the second time in a year, the sad story of civilians dying from airstrikes by Nigeria Airforce fighter jets once again dominates national discourse. In September 23, 2024, over 24 persons were reportedly killed during an airstrike in a village in Kaduna State after a Nigerian Air Force operation targeted some terrorists in their hideout.
Indeed, similar incidents have happened in the last few years and what happened on Christmas Day in Sokoto, which is still the subject of a debate between the Defence Headquarters, DHQ, stakeholders and victims, had the hallmark of the previous disaster that occurred last September.
According to the DHQ, the latest airstrike in Sokoto targeted and struck members of the Lakurawas terrorist group and their logistics base, leading to a secondary explosion that killed 10 residents of Gidan Sama and Rumtuwa communities in Silame Local Government Area of the state.
Elaborating further, the Director of Defence Media Operations, Major-Gen. Edward Buba, said the airstrikes were, indeed, targeted at the Lakurawas terrorist group and their logistics base, but, quite unfortunately, a secondary explosion occurred, which led to the loss of lives of the villagers. He explained that before the operation on December 25, 2024, there were confirmed and heightened terrorist activities in the area.
According to him, sustained intelligence, surveillance and recognition were conducted for an extended period to confirm the presence of the terrorists hibernating there and to also make sure that those in that location were truly terrorists. Because of the painstaking measures, he insisted, the operation which should have taken place on an earlier date, had to be rescheduled to December 25, when it was eventually conducted.
General Buba said the operation was planned as a joint effort to leverage the air component’s precision strike capability and the land component’s ability to have the boots on the ground.
To quote him, “The strike was executed with precision-guided munitions to minimise collateral damage. The land component was tactically deployed at blocking positions around the target location to prevent the escape of the Lakurawas terrorists, as well as to provide immediate post-strike assessment and follow-up actions. Following the air strikes, ground forces moved into the area to assess the strike’s impact.
“The ground forces confirmed that the hideout was successfully neutrallised with minimal damage observed in the surrounding villages. The ground forces interacted with the locals in the area and confirmed the presence of the Lakurawas terrorists in that general area. The ground forces also confirmed that the air strikes achieved its primary objective of neutralising the Lakurawa terrorist group’s hideout.”
NAF spokesperson, Air Vice-Marshal Olusola Akinboyewa, predictably, agreed with this position by the DHQ. So did the Coordinator of the Joint Media Coordinator Centre of the operation, Lieutenant Abubakar Adullahi. Both of them insisted that the airstrike was based on thorough reconnaissance missions.
Eyewitnesses have a different view. Reports say the fighter jets that targeted the terrorists mistakenly dropped explosives in the affected villages, leading to the death of the victims, the razing of houses, death of livestock and food silos.
A grieving leader of the affected areas, Alhaji Abubakar Mohammed, lamented that the affected communities had no connection with the terrorists and paying the ultimate price was too much for the people to bear.
Residents claimed that they saw the jets drop bombs on their homes and they saw relatives burnt to death.
While we sympathise with the villagers and support the NAF to launch a thorough investigation into the incident, as it has promised to do, we call on the state and Federal Government to come to the aid of the villages. This should be the first step in the rehabilitation of the people, who suffered severe losses. This healing process is necessary for the villagers who need some form of mental and emotional stability at their trying times.
Winning the war against terror is a must and every Nigerian should support the army to intensify efforts to end insecurity in 2025. Even so, we call for more diligence and strategy in executing their plans so that civilians do not get caught in the firing line.
