The Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, has insisted that there was no mistake in the military airstrikes targeted at the members of the Lakurawa terrorist group in Sokoto on Wednesday
A fighter jet bombed two communities in the Silame Local Government Area of the state, killing at least 10 people and injuring several others.
The Sokoto State Government had claimed that 10 people who lost their lives in the strikes were “innocent villagers.”
But visiting the North-Western state a day after the incident, the CDS addressed journalists at the Giginya Cantonment Sokoto and maintained that those killed were criminals.
He, however, said that investigation would be launched into the matter.
“We have individuals that still harbour those people and once you do that, you make yourself a target. Our appeal is please do not allow them hang around you, do not give them any support in whatever means.
“The incident that happened yesterday is an operation we conducted. We followed up and ensure we avoided mistakes as much as possible. If there were other mistakes that came up, we will investigate.
“From what we have seen, there were criminals in that place. Anybody that toyed with them was part of them.
“We want to appeal to the media, always understand that those guys want to use the media to send their message across. That is why it is dangerous not to agree to what they are saying.”
General Musa stated that regardless of the controversy surrounding the airstrikes, the military would continue with its operations and would not relent in fighting criminal elements but would avoid civilian casualties.
He explained that the military “would avoid civilian casualties as long as even they do avoid staying where the criminals are. It makes the job extremely difficult if we say wherever they are with the criminals, we avoid.
“If you are not with them, please leave their area and come out so that it gives us the ability to deal with them decisively.”
He also used the opportunity of his visit to have Christmas lunch with the troops of Operation Fansan Yamma, an operation aimed at ridding the state of bandits.
The Sokoto State Governor, Ahmed Aliyu, has visited the two communities that were bombed by the military fighter jets.
The governor defied the difficult terrain of the village and joined other residents for the funeral prayers for the dead victims.
He donated ₦20 million to support the families of those affected by the incident.
He was accompanied by the All Progressives Congress leader in the state, Senator Aliyu Wamakko and the Minister of Labour and Employment, Muhammadu Maigari Dingyadi.
The governor sympathised with the community and described the incident as unfortunate.
“The military jets were on their mission to eliminate criminals armed groups terrorizing the state, and mistakenly bombed innocent people of this community.
“We consider this as a mistake because the same military had on several occasions successfully raided so many criminal hideouts in the state,” he said.
