On January 11, Operation Fansan Yamma of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) carried out an airstrike in Maradun Local Government Area of Zamfara State. Intended to repel bandits, the strike killed members of the Zamfara Community Protection Guards (ZCPG) instead. FIJ’s EMMANUEL UTI journeyed to the affected community of Kakindawa to find grieving families, survivors and local leaders in a bid to expose the human cost of yet another military blunder in the face of insecurity.

Sani and Adamu Gamawa of Gamawa in Kakindawa Village of Maradun Local Government Area (LGA) in Zamfara State had planned to leave Zamfara in January. But fate had other plans. Today, Usman Gamawa, their 60-year-old father, laid them to rest.

Sani, 40, and Adamu, 30, did not hesitate when bandits invaded Tungar Kara, a neighbouring village in Maradun Local Government Area. As members of the Zamfara Community Protection Guard (ZCPG) with a duty to protect their communities, they retrieved their guns and joined their fellow vigilantes in pursuit of the attackers. They had defended their community before, but this time would be different.

As they moved through familiar terrain, an aircraft hovered overhead. Then, without warning, bombs rained down. Explosions tore through their ranks and cut down many in an instant. Sani and Adamu were among those hit. They lost consciousness. Their bodies were crushed in a pool of blood and dust.

When the smoke cleared and the terror subsided, villagers rushed to their aid. They carried the brothers to a hospital. By the end of the day, Sani and Adamu drew their last breaths. Sani is survived by two wives and three kids; and Adamu, a wife who was almost due at the time of his unfortunate demise.

“My sons did not deserve to die like this,” their grieving father told FIJ.

“They heard that bandits attacked our neighbours in Tungar Kara and went to help. But instead of the bandits, an airplane from the city bombed them. I blame the government. Why were my sons killed while the real enemies walked free? Their deaths were avoidable. But I take solace in the life hereafter.”

Usman Gamawa is not alone in his sorrow. Fifty-year-old Usman Muhammadu bears the same grief. 25-year-old Muhammadu Sani and 30-year-old Bala Muhammadu, his sons, were also lost to the Air Force’s miscalculated strike. Unlike Usman, Muhammadu had witnessed the horror unfold.

“I saw the drone before it dropped the explosives,” Muhammadu recounted.

“In that moment, I knew my children were in danger. Before I could move, a member of the vigilante group came running with the news that my two sons had died on the spot.”

BACKGROUND

Residents of Zamfara have suffered for years from the relentless attacks of armed terrorist gangs. These terrorists have robbed, abducted and even killed people while stealing their property.

This crisis has left thousands dead, displaced countless others, and turned once-thriving rural communities into battlegrounds. The New Humanitarian says that Zamfara is at the centre of a kidnap-for-ransom industry worth millions of dollars each year. In just the last three months of 2022, the paper said, 1,090 abductions were recorded.

Abdulaziz Yari, a former governor of Zamfara, estimated that almost 500 communities and 13,000 hectares of land had been demolished, while 2,835 people were murdered between 2011 and 2018. Reports indicate that at least 10,000 armed bandits and livestock rustlers operate out of eight large camps in Zamfara State. Additionally, some estimates put the number of children orphaned by such attacks at 44,000 since 2010. More than 16,000 individuals have been internally displaced in Anka Local Government Area.

To combat banditry, local men have come together to form vigilante groups to protect their communities, but this has not solved the problem. In fact, many of these men have lost their lives fighting for their people.

Between January and April 2019, the Nigerian Army launched several operations, including Operation Harbin Kunama, Operation Diran Mikiya, and Operation Puff Adder, in an attempt to tackle banditry in the Northwest. These efforts also failed to eradicate the problem.

To contain the increasing violence, the Nigerian military resorted to air raids but it has not been so successful. In fact, at least 400 innocent Nigerians have lost their lives during air raids since 2017 either due to misidentification or poor intelligence. Despite public outrage, the military continues to act without accountability, which leaves affected communities with more questions than answers.

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The events of that fateful day in Gamawa are not isolated. Similar tragedies have unfolded in various parts of northern Nigeria. This incident has raised concerns about the effectiveness of airstrikes and how the military operates. As the families of the deceased struggle to make sense of their loss, their grief is compounded by the question: How could the very forces meant to protect them become the cause of their suffering?

15-YEAR-OLD VICTIM

15-year-old Nuhu Usman can no longer walk without support from others. His body bears the scars of the NAF airstrike, his right leg too damaged to hold his weight.

When FIJ arrived at his family’s mud house, a few men went inside to fetch him. He tried to walk, but after just a few unsteady steps, his strength gave out. Gently, they lifted him and laid him on a mat, where he would tell FIJ his story.

Usman never understood why the aircraft kept circling Kakindawa. He had only one focus: to follow the orders of his leader, the head of the vigilante group. When his commander spotted the drone overhead, he issued a sharp directive: split up, scatter, stay safe.

“But that did not save me. Once the bomb dropped, I got injured. My right leg was torn, and my right arm was cut sharply. But I am grateful to be alive. Others never got that chance,” Usman said.

A SHATTERED FAMILY

Nuhu Dalhatu, a 35-year-old resident, may have survived the attack but from a patriarchal standpoint, his woes have quintupled. He is a vigilante living in the shadows of a once prosperous but now bandit-infested community. He has two wives and 10 children but so did his slain elder brother, who was five years his senior.

Unlike some survivors, Dalhatu’s pain is beyond physical. He feels let down. He told FIJ he and his brother set out to expel the bandits after they heard they had invaded a neighbouring community but split just before either of them sighted any aircraft.

“When the military plane appeared, I thought it had come for the bandits. We had already managed to contain them with our crude weapons. But then, instead of striking the real enemies, the plane turned on us. It dropped explosives three times right where my brother was,” Dalhatu told FIJ.

“The demise of my older brother is such a difficult one to bear because I do not know how life would be henceforth. But I now have to shoulder my family responsibilities and that of my brother’s.”

BASIRU ABUBAKAR

People were still trying to help 32-year-old Basiru Abubakar when he breathed his last. If he had been found earlier, he could probably have made it, but his soul could not wait for time. Understandably so, not many people rushed to look for the vigilante after the air strike because they were still scared. The sound from the aircraft was deafening, that an hour after the air strike, only fellow vigilante officials came out to help one another.

However, when every family started looking for its members, Saibu Abubakar, Basiru’s father, happened upon the heartbreaking sight of his son struggling to breathe.

“My son got hit by the bomb when I found him. He was still breathing but was badly injured and had lost a lot of blood. His younger siblings tried to rush him to a hospital at the nearby community, but he passed before they could get there,” said Abubakar.

WIDOWED BY NAF’S ERROR

At 25, Asiya Muhammadu Sani carried more than just the weight of her pregnancy. She carried grief, uncertainty and the crushing reality of widowhood. When FIJ met her, she was unwilling to talk, and when she did, the silence punctuated her words. Her husband was gone, and with him, the life she had known.

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Now, she has to raise their three boys and one girl alone.

When the airstrike happened, Asiya had been at home, unaware that in mere moments, her world would be shattered. It wasn’t until she visited one of the devastated sites that the truth struck her like a blow — her husband would never return.

“I have never gone through pregnancy without my husband by my side,” she told FIJ.

“I don’t know how I will go on from here. I am devastated that he had to die like this. No compensation can ever fill this void.”

AFTERMATH OF THE AIRSTRIKE

Major news outlets reported that 16 people, including civilians, lost their lives in the airstrike on January 11 in Kakindawa Village but this is somewhat off the mark.

FIJ found that 10 people were killed, and 11 others sustained injuries at Tungar Kara, a village in Kakindawa. Every victim was a member of the ZCPG. They were fathers, sons and husbands who had taken up arms in the absence of a functioning security system.

The Zamfara State Government’s response to the deaths and injuries of the affected men came down to money. FIJ learnt the government invited the survivors and the families of the deceased to Gusau, the state capital, where they compensated the injured vigilante with N500,000. The families of those who died got N1 million.

“We got N1 million each for my two sons who died in the air strike, but it’s just money. Losing two sons at once is a big deal. But I leave everything to God,” says Muhammadu Usman.

The impact of the military’s action is manifold. As a result, many do not think highly of the military.

Some even believed the Air Force deliberately fired at them.

READ MORE: NAF’s Trip From Denying to Acknowledging Its Airstrike Killed Zamfara Civilians

“The plane first dropped the explosive at the mosque. Meanwhile, my brothers had chased the bandits who were already on the run with some stolen properties. So, I don’t understand why the plane came at the people in the community instead of going after the bandits,” Dalhatu explained.

Some in the community recoil in fear at the sound of a speeding plane while others wonder how efficient the military is. Maikano, a resident and vigilante, believes it was a grave error.

“The rising violence in Maradun LGA likely pushed the military into choosing airstrikes as a response. The Air Force couldn’t distinguish between the bandits and the vigilantes, which led to this tragedy. In total, 21 people were affected. 10 lost their lives, and 11 suffered varying degrees of injuries,” he explained.

15-year-old Nuhu Usman shares this sentiment. He said the military misfired because their drone couldn’t tell the difference between the bandits and the vigilantes who had gone to help the neighbouring village.

FROM DENIAL TO ACCEPTANCE

When news broke that an airstrike from Operation Fansan Yamma had killed civilians in Zamfara, the NAF responded with swift and absolute denial. This familiar script had also played out after Operation Hadarin Daji claimed 10 lives in Sokoto on December 25.

At the time, NAF insisted there was no credible evidence that its operation had killed civilians in Tungar Kara. Instead, they described the attack as a “devastatingly well-coordinated air-ground assault” aimed at insurgents.

Olusola Akinboyewa, NAF’s Spokesperson, said, “These claims may be coming from terrorists and their sympathizers, seeking to discredit the military.”

But as the dust settled and the truth became harder to ignore, the story changed.

On Thursday, NAF finally admitted to its mistake. Hasan Abubakar, the Chief of Air Staff, visited the victims and their families. In an official statement, NAF acknowledged the pain and devastation caused by the airstrike, vowing not to take the situation lightly.

Abubakar announced a series of reparations: financial compensation for the families of the deceased, reconstruction of damaged buildings, and even a solar-powered borehole for the affected community. The Air Force also pledged to replace the two motorcycles destroyed in the strike.

WHEN MISTAKES BECOME A PATTERN

A troubling pattern of the NAF repeatedly denying its involvement in civilian casualties, only to later admit responsibility when evidence becomes irrefutable, has emerged over the years. According to SBM Intelligence, Nigeria’s military frequently conducts air raids to combat extremist violence in the country’s north. But in the process, these airstrikes have killed around 400 civilians since 2017.

One of the most devastating incidents occurred during the 2017 Rann airstrike, where more than 100 civilians were killed.

Initially, the NAF claimed it was targeting Boko Haram but later conceded that it had mistakenly bombed a camp for displaced persons. The same pattern followed after the 2021 airstrike in Yobe State. First, denial of any operation, then, days later, an admission of accidental civilian deaths.

In 2023, when an airstrike in Kaduna State killed over 80 worshippers at a religious gathering, the NAF neither confirmed nor denied responsibility. But as evidence mounted, it eventually acknowledged the attack, calling it an “error”.

This pattern suggests a hesitant or reactive approach to accountability, with admissions often coming only when undeniable proof is presented. The military often promises investigations, but the findings rarely see the light of day. Families of victims are left to bear the consequences of their actions and inactions.

In 2024, the Nigerian military prosecuted two personnel in 2024 over the Kaduna airstrike. They also vowed to release the findings of its investigation. But, as with many past promises, the report remains unpublished.

A SECURITY EXPERT’S VIEW

The continued presence of banditry in Zamfara and the people living in terror show that while airstrikes have inflicted damage, it has not decisively weakened the bandits. This is why Kehinde Giwa, a security analyst with SBM Intelligence, a Lagos-based research organisation, said airstrikes have had limited success in Zamfara, as they often fail to neutralize bandits.

He said the weaknesses of the NAF include outdated intelligence, poor surveillance and lack of ground verification, adding that drone surveillance, if used, often lacks precision.

“Airstrikes can alienate communities and worsen insecurity. Incidents like this erode public trust in the military. Alternative measures include community policing, improved intelligence sharing, and non-lethal strategies to isolate and pressure bandits,” Giwa told FIJ, adding that the military views vigilantes as informal allies but often distrusts them due to lack of coordination.

REIGN OF TERROR

Insecurity in Maradun Local Government Area (LGA) is not an everyday occurrence, but the area has a reputation for being unsafe.

FIJ observed that when Maradun is mentioned, many Zamfara residents equate it with insecurity. When I arrived in Zamfara and told local motorists of my destination, they all discouraged me.

One man who knew I was a journalist offered a prayer for my safe return. Others, mostly transporters, looked at me as though I had signed my own death warrant. To them, heading to Maradun was an act of reckless bravery.

Their fears, however, were not misplaced. Abdu Sarkin Yaki Dangi, a chief in Kakindawa, confirmed that insecurity has grown so severe that people no longer sleep in their homes. Instead, they retreat to the forests at night, not because the woods are safe, but because they offer a better chance of survival.

“No one knows what will happen next. Every night, we flee to the bush and return in the morning. Bandits break into homes, stealing food, cattle, and whatever they can find,” Dangi told FIJ.

According to him, Maradun had not always been like this. The insecurity crisis took root about 15 years ago, and since then, it has only worsened.

“If the government truly wants peace, it must reinforce the military presence in the area,” he said.

A man who identified as Comrade Kakindawa told FIJ that if the government creates barracks in the community, their insecurity woes would cease to exist.

NO COMMENTS

FIJ repeatedly called Abubakar Abdullahi, the spokesperson of Operation Fansan Yamma, for comments, and he referred our reporter to the NAF.

“Good morning brother. Kindly direct the questions to NAF HQ. That is not within my scope. Thank you,” he said.

FIJ called the Air Force on the number posted on its Facebook page but it did not connect. Text messages to the number could not be delivered most probably because the number was unregistered at press time.