KILLING OF 16 CIVILIANS IS ONE MISTAKE TOO MANY, SAYS HURIWA:

The report making the rounds that at least 16 civilians in Nigeria’s north-western Zamfara State have been killed in a military air strike, apparently after being mistaken for criminal gangs, has been described by the HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) as one accidental mistake too many just as the Rights group has called for greater care to avoid reoccurrence.

Residents told local media the victims were members of local vigilante groups and civilians defending themselves from armed gangs notorious for kidnapping people for ransom.

The strikes targeted militant gangs in Zurmi and Maradun areas and the state governor, Dauda Lawal, offered his condolences to the community.

The military has acknowledged conducting air strikes, which it said had dealt “a decisive blow to bandits terrorising villages in the area”.

The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) said it was investigating “reports of vigilante losses”.

“While the operation successfully eliminated several bandits and led to the recovery of some kidnap victims, the NAF views with grave concern reports of the loss of civilian lives in the course of the operation,” it said in a statement.

It said an ongoing “comprehensive investigation” would ascertain the truth of the matter, which would be “communicated to inform and reassure the public”.

Rights group Amnesty International Nigeria put the death toll at 20 and said dozens of others were injured in the attack on Tunga Kara village, and called on authorities to “immediately and impartially” investigate the incident.

“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,” it said in a statement.

In recent years, Nigeria’s security forces have been fighting powerful criminal gangs, known as bandits, who have been terrorising north-west and central states. The bandits raid villages, burn homes and kill and abduct residents for ransom.

Several accidental air strikes have occurred in recent months including a Christmas Day attack that killed at least 10 civilians in neighbouring Sokoto state.

In 2023, at least 85 civilians, mostly women and children, attending a Muslim religious gathering at a village in Kaduna state were killed after they were mistaken for bandits.

In January 2017, at least 112 people were killed when a jet struck a camp housing 40,000 people who had been displaced by jihadist violence in a town near the Cameroonian border.

HURIWA however strongly cautioned the Armed forces to pay greater attention to details and deploy target specific drone technology that are often used in such combats and in such confusing topography as Zamfara is so as to minimise collateral damage in the counter terror war. “We commend the members of the armed forces for the courageous battles they are waging against terrorists with a view to restoring stability, National security and economic growth across Nigeria. But we make haste to call on the combatants to be circumspect and do whatever they can to avoid all avoidable accidental killings of innocent civilians. “

Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko,
National Coordinator,
HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA). January 13th 2025.

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