Nigerian Military Jet Mistakenly Strikes, Kills 20 Vigilantes In Zamfara State

Armed bandits invaded the village, killing a number of people and kidnapping more than fifty others, primarily farmers who were tending to their fields.

During an operation against bandits in Garin Mani, a village in the Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State, a Nigerian military fighter jet accidentally hit and killed over 20 members of a vigilante organization.

Armed bandits invaded the village, killing a number of people and kidnapping more than fifty others, primarily farmers who were tending to their fields.

Around noon, according to witnesses, the attackers rode motorcycles into the neighborhood, opened fire randomly, and caused a generalized panic.

Local vigilante organizations responded by organizing and pursuing the escaping attackers.

But according to reports, a military plane sent to the location mistakenly thought the vigilantes were robbers and attacked them with airstrikes.

One of the vigilantes told BBC Hausa, "We saw the fighter jet approaching while we were chasing the bandits."

It began bombing us while flying very low. Some of us pretended to have been struck in order to survive. We got up and ran to safety as soon as the jet took off.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, another local corroborated the occurrence and bemoaned the military's lack of communication.

"We recognize that it was a regrettable error, but the military ought to own up to the situation and communicate with the relatives of the victims," he stated.

Additionally, he urged the administration to send more troops to the region because the bandits had vowed to return.

An occurrence of this nature has happened before. In Tungar Kara, also in Zamfara, an airstrike in January unintentionally killed 16 people, including vigilantes.

Similarly, a misdirected airstrike in December of last year killed ten inhabitants of Gidan Bisa in Sokoto State.

The Nigerian military has not yet released an official statement regarding the most recent incident as of the time this report was filed.