KADUNA, Nigeria (Reuters) – The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has publicly acknowledged responsibility for a strike that killed numerous civilians and injured others in Central Nasarawa state last year.
Witnesses and local leaders reported that dozens of ethnic Fulani herders were killed in the aerial bombing as they were unloading cattle.
In a rare statement of accountability, the air force’s chief air staff Air Marshal Hasan Abubakar visited the affected communities after reviewing reports of the incident, expressing regret for the loss of innocent lives.
The NAF clarified that the incident was not deliberate, but a result of targeting suspected terrorists and cattle rustlers due to heightened insecurity in the area.
Despite being primarily engaged in fighting Islamist insurgents, the air force is also called upon to address criminal activities such as banditry.
Backed by the United States and other Western powers, the air force has previously killed civilians in other attacks, but rarely acknowledges these incidents publicly.
In a separate army drone attack in November in northern Kaduna state, at least 85 civilians were killed. An investigation into this incident is ongoing, based on President Bola Tinubu’s order.
The air force issued a statement emphasizing the importance of meeting with representatives of the victims to address important questions and promote transparency and accountability.
There was no mention of offering compensation in the air force’s statement, but it did quote a local community leader accepting the apology wholeheartedly.
Representatives of the victims were not immediately reachable for comment on the air force’s statement.
(Writing by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
