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The Defence Headquarters of Nigeria today refuted claims of civilian fatalities resulting from recent airstrikes targeting suspected bandits in northern Niger State.
According to military officials, the operations were guided by intelligence and focused solely on militant positions.
Defence spokesperson, Major-General Michael Onoja, reported that drone strikes conducted overnight between May 9 and 10 aimed at the villages of Katerma, Bokko, Kusasu, and Kuduru in the Shiroro district.
These strikes were initiated after intelligence indicated that armed groups, referred to locally as bandits, were assembling to orchestrate attacks.
The statement comes in light of reports from Nigerian media alleging civilian casualties, highlighting ongoing concerns regarding the effects of airstrikes on local populations in conflict-affected areas of Nigeria.
Nigerian security forces are currently engaged in combating banditry in the northwest region and addressing a prolonged Islamist insurgency in the northeast.
In a separate incident last month, approximately 200 individuals lost their lives when military jets struck a village market while pursuing Islamist militants, according to local eyewitnesses who spoke to Reuters.
In the latest operations, Major-General Onoja stated that at least 70 suspected bandits were neutralized in Kusasu alone.
Post-strike assessments revealed that surviving combatants were regrouping, with over 200 motorcycles detected heading toward the nearby Zango village.
”The strikes were meticulously aimed at recognized terrorist strongholds and successfully met their military objectives,” Onoja asserted, noting that residents had previously relocated to another village, thereby reducing the chances of civilian presence during the strikes.
He did not clarify whether any warnings were issued to civilians prior to the airstrikes.
The military has instructed field units to investigate any allegations of harm to non-combatants, according to Onoja.
By: Magdalene Agyeiwaa Sarpong