At least 20 vigilantes were mistakenly killed on Saturday by a Nigerian military fighter jet during an operation targeting bandits in Garin Mani, a village in Zamfara State’s Maru Local Government Area. The tragic incident followed a bandit attack that left several residents dead and over 50 farmers abducted from their fields.
Eyewitnesses reported that the assailants arrived on motorcycles around noon, opening fire indiscriminately. Local vigilante groups quickly mobilized and pursued the fleeing bandits. However, a military aircraft deployed to the scene reportedly misidentified the vigilantes as bandits and launched airstrikes against them.
“We were pursuing the bandits when we saw the fighter jet approaching,” one vigilante 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 wished to remain anonymous, confirmed the incident and expressed disappointment over the military’s silence. “We understand it was an unfortunate mistake, but the military should acknowledge what happened and reach out to the victims’ families,” he said, appealing for additional troops to be deployed due to threats from the bandits to return.
This is not an isolated incident. In January, a similar airstrike mistakenly killed 16 people, including vigilantes, in Tungar Kara, also in Zamfara. Last December, 10 residents of Gidan Bisa in Sokoto State were killed in another misdirected airstrike.
As of the time of this report, the Nigerian military has yet to issue an official statement regarding the latest incident.
