NAF jets have mistakenly killed 300 civilians in 6 years

Operations by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) targeting terrorists in the northern region of the country have resulted in the accidental killing of more than 300 civilians in the past six years, according to a recent report by SBM Intelligence.

The accidental bombing of an internally displaced person’s (IDP) camp in Rann, Borno State in 2017 shocked the global community and kick-started a trend of unacceptable military accidents in Nigeria.

More than 115 people died in the accident that the Nigerian military blamed on bad information [Reuters] ece-auto-gen

Since Rann, there have been at least 13 other incidents where air strikes targeting terrorists hurt civilians. Two of the incidents happened on the same day in January 2023 in Nasarawa and Niger states. Other incidents have been recorded in Borno, Yobe, Zamfara, Katsina, and even a border village in the neighbouring Niger Republic.

The broad casualty list includes children playing under mango trees, fishermen, wedding guests celebrating a union, aid workers trying to make the world better, and cattle herders minding their own business.

Two soldiers even claimed in a viral video in 2021 that NAF jets killed more than 20 soldiers while targeting terrorists during a showdown in Mainok, Borno. NAF promised to look into the allegation but never publicly announced the result of such an investigation.

14 accidental airstrikes have resulted in avoidable civilian deaths [SBM] Pulse Nigeria

The military and the Nigerian government habitually don't directly react to news reports of these accidental airstrikes. This culture of silence makes it impossible to determine the seriousness of investigations of the accidents and if erring officers are ever sanctioned.

No one was held to account for the Rann bombing which was ordered by Lucky Irabor, a major general at the time. Irabor, now a general, was the head of the military’s anti-Boko Haram operation in 2017 and has climbed up the ranks to become Nigeria’s current Chief of Defence Staff.

President Muhammadu Buhari made General Lucky Irabor the head of Nigeria's Armed Forces four years after he ordered the catastrophic Rann bombing [Presidency] Pulse Nigeria

President Muhammadu Buhari called the Rann bombing a "regrettable operational mistake" in 2017, but that story hasn’t changed six years later.