Dozens of Nigerian fishermen feared dead

Dozens of Nigerian fishermen are feared dead after the Chadian military conducted air strikes targeting jihadist positions in Lake Chad, according to AFP reports.

The air strikes, carried out by Chadian fighter jets, hit two islands believed to be controlled by Boko Haram militants. Sources, including a member of a civilian militia and an official from a fishermen’s union in Lake Chad, reported that at least 40 Nigerian fishermen were missing and feared drowned following the bombing.

The exact number of casualties remains unclear as military operations continued across the vast and marshy waterways shared by Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger, and Chad.

A militia member told AFP that Chadian jets had been bombing islands on the Nigerian side of the lake since Friday, following a series of Boko Haram attacks on Chadian troops. The militia source described the casualties among fishermen as “huge,” noting that many of the victims had reportedly been paying taxes to Boko Haram in exchange for access to fishing areas controlled by the group.

The strikes were reportedly focused on Shuwa Island, a known Boko Haram stronghold located at the meeting point of Nigeria, Niger, and Chad in Lake Chad. One fisherman from Baga, a community in northeastern Nigeria, said, “Many people were killed.”

AFP’s sources indicated that the majority of those killed in the strikes were believed to come from Doron Baga, a fishing community on the Nigerian shore of Lake Chad, and from Taraba State.

“It is not a secret that Nigerian fishermen pay tax to Boko Haram to have access to the remote island with a huge fish reservoir,” a source reportedly said. “Boko Haram ferries them on their boats to these islands and brings them back with their catch.”

As of the time of reporting, the Chadian military had not issued an official statement on the incident.

This tragic development follows a series of attacks on Chadian military positions near Lake Chad, with Boko Haram militants reportedly killing at least 24 soldiers and two senior generals just days before the air strikes.

In a similar incident in October 2024, Chadian forces were accused of killing dozens of Nigerian fishermen during air strikes targeting Boko Haram fighters on Tilma Island in Lake Chad.