Amnesty International faults Nigerian military over “reckless” airstrikes

Amnesty International has raised concern about increasing civilian deaths caused by military airstrikes in Nigeria.

In a post on Monday on its official X account, the human rights group said that careless airstrikes that kill civilians are becoming common in the country. It described the situation as unacceptable.

The group referred to an incident on December 3, 2023, in Tudun Biri, a village in Kaduna State, where many civilians were killed during a religious gathering.

According to Amnesty International, the Nigerian military carried out an airstrike in the evening, killing several people. About 30 minutes later, another strike hit the same area, killing more people, including those who came to help the victims.

Amnesty said about 120 people died in the incident, making it one of the deadliest cases of civilian deaths linked to military operations.

The organisation also accused the military of trying to hide what happened. It said the military first called the strike a mistake, but later gave another explanation, saying suspected bandits were among the civilians.

Amnesty International said these changing explanations raised more questions and called for proper accountability and investigation.