Civilians Feared Killed After Reports of Air Strike on Nigerian Market

Members of Nigeria's armed forces (file picture)

Civilians are feared to have died after reports that Nigerian military jets struck a village market in the north-east of the country.

The attack took place near the border between Yobe and Borno states while an aircraft was said to be engaged in an operation against Islamist militants in the area, according to the Reuters news agency and local reports.

The Nigerian Air Force said it carried out "mop-up" air strikes on "identified terrorist locations" within the Jilli axis of Borno State on Saturday, but has not confirmed that it struck the market nor confirmed casualties.

The area is at the centre of the long-running Boko Haram insurgency, which has forced more than two million people to flee their homes and killed thousands.

The Nigerian Air Force's statement said follow-on strikes on Saturday were "aimed at fleeing remnants and regrouping cells seeking to exploit the difficult terrain".

There are conflicting reports of the number of casualties as a result of the strike on the market.

Citing a councillor, Lawan Zanna Nur Geidam, in Yobe's Geidam district, as well as three residents and an official from an international humanitarian agency, news agency Reuters said at least 200 people had been killed.

"It's a very devastating incident," said Zanna Nur Geidam, who said the injured had been taken to hospitals in Yobe and Borno.

Nigerian outlets the Sun and Punch reported sources saying that 10 people had been killed, while "several" others had sustained injuries.

But newspaper the Daily Trust reported that an eyewitness said at least 56 people had died, with 14 others hospitalised.

According to the outlet, the weekly market usually attracts traders and buyers from surrounding communities.

In a statement on Facebook on Sunday, the Yobe State Emergency Management Agency said it had received "preliminary reports" of an incident at Jilli Market in the Gubio local government area, "which reportedly resulted in casualties affecting some marketers".

It added that emergency response mechanisms had been "immediately evacuated", with assessment teams deployed to the area, but added that "details regarding the nature of the incident and the number of casualties remain unverified".

The government of the neighbouring Yobe state said some of its residents who went to the market "were affected".

"Some people from Geidam LGA [local government area] bordering Gubio LGA in Borno state who went to the Jilli weekly market were affected," Brigadier General Dahiru Abdulsalam said on Facebook.

Ahmed Ali, a 43-year-old market trader, told Reuters he was injured in the blast.

"I became so scared and attempted to run away, but a friend dragged me and we all lay on the ground," he said.

Amnesty International's Nigeria branch condemned the strike, which it said had killed "over 100 people".

"Launching air raids is not a legitimate law enforcement method by anyone's standard," a post on X said.

"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."

Nigeria's north‑east has seen repeated incidents in recent years in which military air operations against Islamist insurgents have mistakenly hit civilians, including in villages, camps for displaced people and markets.