Amnesty International has described the Christmas day airstrikes by Nigeria army that killed 10 villagers in Silame Local Government Area of Sokoto State as reckless.
The director of Amnesty International Nigeria, Isa Sanusi, said, “Launching air raids is not a legitimate law enforcement method by any standard.
“Such reckless use of deadly force is unlawful, outrageous and lays bare the Nigerian military’s shocking disregard for the lives of those it supposedly exists to protect.”
Mr Sanusi said the reckless use of force by the Nigerian security forces in the Sokoto communities wiped out an entire family in the airstrike.
“The Christmas day air strikes on the two communities of Silame LGA of Sokoto state are unlawful and excessive force on a catastrophic scale.
“They are yet another tragic example where Nigeria’s armed forces are found applying deadly military tactics to law enforcement situations.”
“Entire families were killed inside their homes. Some villagers were burnt to death in an inferno triggered by the air strikes. International humanitarian law demands that all feasible precautions must be taken to minimize harm to civilians.”
Meanwhile, the Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba, said the deaths and injuries were due to “explosions” and not a direct result of the strikes.
“Now, I spoke about secondary explosions. Because one of the targets was a logistic base of the terrorists in the community. When I talk of a logistics base, I’m talking of armed caches and poles that were kept there,” he said during a briefing at the DHQ in Abuja on Friday.
“So, naturally, when the munition hits, there will be a secondary explosion arising from that which will generate other things flying in the air which was what led to the death of about 10 persons that was reported. The 10 persons reported were not hit directly by the air strikes.
The people who were hit directly by the air strikes were the Lakurawa terrorist groups, and they were burned beyond recognition.”
