Amnesty International condemns killings of civilians in military airstrike

The rights group said the accidental airstrike killed more than 100 people.

Amnesty International, Nigeria Office, has condemned Saturday’s military airstrike that killed civilians in a border market in the North-east.

In a statement posted on X, the rights group said the accidental airstrike killed more than 100 people.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that the Nigerian Air Force confirmed the incident, but was silent on civilian casualties.

According to sources, the airstrike, which targeted insurgents collecting levies at the border market in Jalli, a Yobe community bordering Borno State, killed traders on Saturday evening.

Citing witnesses’ accounts, Amnesty stated that three military jets fired on the market.

“The emergency section of Geidam General Hospital had so far received 35 people with severe injuries,” it said, adding that “launching air raids is not a legitimate law enforcement method by anyone’s standard.”

“Such reckless use of deadly force is unlawful, outrageous and lays bare the Nigerian military’s shocking disregard for the lives of those it supposedly exists to protect,” Amnesty said.

It called on Nigerian authorities to immediately conduct an impartial investigation into the incident and ensure that suspected perpetrators are held to account.

Local authorities have called for blood donations for those who sustained injuries during the strike.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Air Force has described the airstrike as “precision” bombings of terrorists’ locations in the Jilli area.

Its spokesperson, Ehimen Ejodame, an air commodore, said in a statement that the operation was part of the “coordinated air-ground integration operation” with troops of the Nigerian Army after successfully decimating their (terrorists) hideouts in the area.

The statement did not acknowledge that civilians were killed in the operation, and Mr Ejodome did not respond to PREMIUM TIMES’ enquiry about that.