Why Nigeria military continue to dey bomb civilians by 'mistake'?

BBC News

01-03-2025

Three times for di last three months, deadly air attacks by di Nigerian military don accidentally kill ova 30 civilians.
Di first time na for December 2024, wen one airstrike kill 10 pipo for Sokoto state for attack, di state govnor bin tok say dem mistakenly target civilians.
Den for January, one military airstrike bin kill at least 16 members of one local vigilante group and farmers for Tungar Kara, wey be one remote town for di north-western Zamfara state, afta dem mistake dem for criminal gangs.
For February, one Nigerian army fighter jet mistakenly kill like six civilians for one village, as dem dey pursue armed guards for di north-western Katsina state.
Di Nigerian military don kill hundreds of civilians for airstrikes wey dey target armed groups for di kontri conflict-prone north ova di years, many of dem be locals, wey dem bomb for dia villages.
Similar airstrikes don kill hundreds of civilians, wey most times be members of local vigilante groups and farmers, while di Nigerian air force claim say na armed gangs dem dey target.
For di times wey di army don acknowledge di incidents, dem tok say na wrong analysis cause am and sometimes dem dey tok sorry.
Di Nigerian armed forces wey di US, di UK and oda non-Western allies dey back, don dey use air assaults more and more against di growing threat for di northwest and central region wey armed criminal gangs, wey dem dey call bandits, dey cause.
Di campaign dey cost Nigerian civilians heavily, and e dey reduce dia support for di military, according to one BBC report for December.
Di Nigerian Air Force don launch 17 accidental airstrikes between January 2017 and September 2024 and don kill ova 500 pipo according to one consulting firm, SBM Intelligence.
So why Nigerian military dey continue to kill civilians and pipo wey no dey active for di armed kasala wit accidental airstrikes?
Some don point to intelligence failure. Afta one unmanned drone mistakenly drop di first bomb for Tudunburi, one village for northern Kaduna state, one year ago, residents tell di BBC say dem bin hala to tell di military say dem don target di wrong pipo. But dem still drop di second bomb wey increase di deaths to 85.
Also drone warfare dey kind of new for Africa. But wetin be di property of only military superpowers don turn wetin many kontris and even non-state actors dey own.
Paul Scharre, wey be di Director of Studies for di Center for New American Security tok say na China be di number one exporter for armed drones worldwide. Oda middle powers like Iran and Turkey fet access to drone technology and dey sell di systems abroad.
Di Nigerian Air Force don get plenti of dis new aircrafts including di Chinese built unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), wey dey commonly known as drones. Dis na according to wetin di editor of di Defence Web, Guy Martin tell di BBC.
Almost one-third of African kontris don get UAVs wey come mainly from Turkey and China. But di fast deployment of UAV technology dey normally ova take di development of beta training and engagement protocols for military personnel, na wetin e add tok.
So wen accidental airstrikes happun, accountability fit dey rare.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) Nigeria researcher Anietie Ewang tok say no be about access to di drones, but na more about how dem dey handle di drones.
Nigeria security partners like di US, UK and France need to make sure say dia Nigerian allies run military force wey go dey "more rights-friendly and right-accountable", na wetin she tok.
Attah Jesse Olottah wey be security risk management professional sef gree.
E say, "even though, drone proliferation don make am easier for militaries to do airstrikes, di real issue dey for poor intelligence, gathering and targeting, limited oversight, weak STRATCOM, e tok. So di wahala no be only di access to drones but di level of oversight wey ensure say precision dey and dem keep to di rules of engagement."
E say Nigeria no need to dey "micromanaged", but di kontri need to set precedent of accountability, as leader for both regional and international organisations.
E say sanctions and diplomatic pressure no dey always work so "international partners need to focus on collaborative training and support, and getting lessons from wars and kasala".
But dem neva give beta punishment on military personnel dem wey commit ova di years till di Tudunbiri airstrike.
Oga Olottah say even though e dey rare punishments dey happun but no dey public so as not to reduce troop morale. E add say investigations dey normally lead to internal review instead of prosecutions.
Military tok-tok pesin Maj-Gen Edward Buba don also tok say two army personnel dey face court martial ova di mata and as di case dey go on, di military don redeploy dem and comot dem from dia command.
Ms Ewand say even though "we don see commitment to justice sometimes", di "culture of impunity inside di military" na one of di reasons civilians go continue to be collateral damage for di fight against armed gangs.
She say, "even for cases wia we don see commitment to justice and accountability, na lip service e be. We neva see dem take any ogbonge steps wey go ensre say dem do wetin dem tok, weda na by holding officers accountable, changing operational guidelines and procedures to ensure say civilians dey better protected.," she tok.
For communities like Tudunbiri, residents still dey ask for justice as di process of restitution bin no dey inclusive and dem dey left alone afta dem get promise say dem go make sure say dem dey okay.
Ms Ewang say, "we need make sure say we dey consider wetin di victims don lose for very thorough process. And make sure dem dey paid back fairly for wetin dem don suffer".
Oga Olottah say, di Nigerian military get concerning track record of operational miscalculations most especially for conflict zones like di northeast and northwest.
E say "oda militaries like di U.S., Russia, Israel, and Saudi Arabia also get hand for di civilian casualties for drone or airstrike operations for oda kontris. Nigeria own case stand out probably bicos of dia own targeting errors for dia own soil".
Maj-Gen Buba tok say even as di military continue to dey operate for difficult environment, "we don grow for our equipment holding and for our deployment of more experienced commanders and troops."
More than dis, oga Olottah say di military need to get improved intelligence, stronger oversight and beta training, so dem go fit reduce target misidentification.
E say, "di no-brainer na capacity building to pre-emptively correct di gaps bifor dem happun and legal reforms wey go make sire say accountability dey for evri action from di direction till di execution of strike".
E say to win di war against insurgency, authorities must dey "intentional" for dia will to reduce how often and how dangerous dis tragic incidents dey be.
For Ms Ewang, "one question wey we suppose dey ask ourselves na if airstrikes dey effective to fight bandits for di northwest of Nigeria".
She say maybe we go fit save more lives like dat.