Governor of Zamfara State Dauda Lawal has said that the recent military airstrike that killed about 16 residents in the North-Western state was not intentional.
He said the incident happened in the process of fighting bandits in the area.
Lawal stated this during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, where he commiserated with the families of the victims.
“It was not intentional. It was in the process of fighting these bandits (that) they were struck,” he said.
“The Chief of Air Staff has set up a committee to commiserate with the state government as well as the people that were affected.
“They also went there yesterday to do on the spot assessment to see who was involved and what happened to guide against future occurrence,” he added.
He said he was aware of the military operation before the tragedy occurred, saying that he personally invited the Air Force to neutralise some bandits who were attacking the area.
He expressed hope that the military has all the capacity to tackle bandits activities within one month.
The governor said the days of notorious bandits leader, Bello Turji, are numbered, saying he would soon be eliminated just as other top bandits have been neutralised.
DAILY POST reported on January 11 that over 16 residents were killed after a military air strike tore through the Tungar Kara community in the Maradun Local Government Area of the State.
Several accidental air strikes have occurred in recent months, including a Christmas Day attack that killed at least 10 civilians in neighbouring Sokoto state.
Also recall that in 2023, at least 85 civilians, mostly women and children, attending a Muslim religious gathering at a village in Kaduna state were killed after they were mistaken for bandits.
Also at least 112 people were killed in January 2017 when a jet struck a camp housing 40,000 people who had been displaced by jihadist violence in a town near the Cameroonian border.