Nigerian Communities Continue to Mourn After Airstrike Targeting Lakurawa Kills Many

Ten civilians, mostly women and children, have been killed in yet another military airstrike targeting the Lakurawa terror group in the Gidan Bisa and Rumtuwa area of Silame, Sokoto, North West Nigeria.

Fourteen residents suffered varying degrees of injury, including three gunshot victims. Residents told HumAngle they were shot at by the ground forces conducting a clearing operation after the air raid. They opened fire on locals who had come to assist the villagers, preventing them from gaining access to the area.

The incident, which happened in the early hours of Wednesday around 7 a.m., has rendered many of the locals homeless. In Gidan Bisa, for instance, two-thirds of the village was destroyed, leveling about 13 houses to the ground as food silos were burnt and dozens of livestock killed.

“I saw aeroplanes hovering above us, and I began to wonder if everything was alright. Less than a minute later, we heard a very loud noise and a cloud of dust engulfed us. As the dust began to settle, we decided to move closer to check out what had happened. There’s fire everywhere and children shouting for help. Then they dropped another one,” the village head of Gidan Bisa, Magaji Danladi, told HumAngle.

Another resident, Umaru Kure, 65, told HumAngle he was unaware of the terror group in the axis. Kure lost his son, Muhammed, to the strike. “It’s a big lie. Who are the Lakurawa? We’re peace-loving people and mostly Hausawa. If they said that, it’s a lie.”

But the military insisted that those killed in the strike “have been positively identified as associated with the Lakurawa group.”

The Islamist terror group operates in Sokoto and part of Kebbi state. The group first emerged in the axis around 2018 after being invited by locals to help fight other armed groups terrorising the region.

In a statement by the Joint Task Force Northwest Operation, Fansan Yamma justified the killings. The joint operation spokesperson, Abdullahi Abubakar, said the air raid followed thorough intelligence before adding that the “rigorous process is particularly important when targeting groups like the Lakurawa terrorist organisation, as it aims to ensure precision and protect civilian lives.”

This is not the first time the military has hit civilian settlements in airstrikes targeting terrorists. The military authorities hardly acknowledge these airstrikes or provide information to support victims, including measures taken to mitigate future mishaps. Analysts say this shows that they are incapable of introspection and holding themselves accountable.

So far, there have been at least 19 documented incidents of the military bombing civilian communities since February 2014, when a Nigerian military aircraft hit Daglun, a village in Borno, killing 20 civilians. These recurring incidents have led to the deaths of at least 400 civilians and injured hundreds of others.