A military air strike in Zamfara state, northwest Nigeria, killed at least 20 local vigilantes over the weekend, according to residents and the military, raising renewed concerns over civilian casualties in anti-bandit operations.
The Nigerian Air Force said the strike targeted armed groups it believed were preparing an attack on local communities. Air Commodore Ehimen Ejodame stated that intelligence indicated the militants had already killed farmers and abducted several civilians, including women and children.
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However, residents told journalists that the victims were local vigilantes pursuing the bandits who had earlier attacked the villages of Mani and Wabi, stealing cattle and abducting people. They said the military aircraft mistakenly bombed the vigilantes, not the bandits.
Amnesty International condemned the air strike and called for an independent investigation, saying, “To launch reckless air strikes into villages – again and again – is absolutely unlawful.”
The Nigerian military has acknowledged similar incidents in the past, including a strike in January in Zamfara that killed 16 vigilantes, and another in December 2022 that killed over 100 civilians in Mutunji village.
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