Nigeria’s Defense Headquarters has pushed back against media reports claiming civilian casualties occurred during recent drone operations targeting armed criminal groups in the country’s northern Niger state.
Defense spokesperson Major-General Michael Onoja stated Monday that the overnight drone operations conducted between May 9 and 10 were guided by intelligence and struck only militant locations. The operations focused on four villages in the Shiroro district: Katerma, Bokko, Kusasu and Kuduru, where intelligence suggested armed criminal groups known locally as bandits were assembling to plan future attacks.
The military’s response addresses Nigerian media reports that alleged civilian deaths, highlighting ongoing concerns about how airstrikes in conflict areas affect local populations.
Nigeria’s armed forces are currently fighting criminal gangs in the country’s northwest region while also combating a 17-year Islamic extremist uprising in the northeast.
Just last month, approximately 200 people died when military aircraft hit a village marketplace during operations against Islamic militants in the northeast, according to local residents who spoke with Reuters.
Regarding the recent operations, Onoja reported that no fewer than 70 suspected criminals were eliminated in Kusasu village alone. Intelligence gathered after the strikes revealed surviving fighters were regrouping, with over 200 motorcycles observed moving toward the nearby village of Zango.
“The strikes were precisely targeted at identified terrorist enclaves and achieved their intended military objectives,” Onoja stated. He added that local residents had moved to another village prior to the operation, reducing the possibility of civilian casualties.
Onoja did not specify whether civilians received advance warning about the planned strikes.
The military has directed field commanders to look into any allegations of civilian harm, according to Onoja.
