Survivors of the January 24 military airstrike that killed 39 and left six injured at Kwatiri village in Doma local area, Nasarwa State, have told Human Rights Watch, how the incident affected their lives.
The locals told the rights organisation that officers of the Benue State Livestock Guards, enforcing the Benue State Anti-Open Grazing Law, seized over 1,000 cows from nomadic herders who were grazing cattle in Naka, a Benue suburb bordering Nasarawa State. They were, however, fined N27 million for crossing into Benue State.
The law, according to the rights organisation’s report, prohibits the movement of livestock on foot within the state. After paying the fine, the officials advised them to move the cattle by truck to the village where the military airstrike rained the bomb on them.
While the state governor, Abdullahi Sule told the media the killings were carried out by an unidentified drone, the Nigerian Air Force later confessed it was responsible. The confession was made in response to a letter written by the rights organisation.
A BOMB FROM THE SKY
Some of the survivors who spoke to the group anonymously believed the Benue State government targeted them.
One of them said: “They directed us to the particular area to offload the cattle. There were other places that would have been more convenient for us but because we were afraid of the repercussions if we did not do as they said, so we went exactly where they told us to go.”
“The truck arrived shortly after night prayers. Then we began offloading the cattle. We had removed most of them – there were just two left on the truck that we were trying to remove when I heard a sound coming from the sky and an explosion following it, it was like the sound of a jet but I couldn’t see anything,” another survivor, a 25-year-old man was quoted.
He was knocked unconscious from the explosion and cannot remember anything afterwards. He regained consciousness at Lafia Specialist Hospital, where he was hospitalized for several days and treated for injuries, including a broken hand and other deep flesh wounds.
“We had almost finished removing the cows from the truck when I heard a loud sound from the sky. I blacked out after the explosion and woke up at Lafia Specialist Hospital [where he was taken for medical care] … I spent two days before moving to a private hospital,” a 19-year-old survivor who sustained a tibia and flesh wounds told the rights organisation.
He was interviewed at a private hospital in Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital, where he had undergone three surgeries and was scheduled for another.
A Fulani community leader in Ukpata, Doma LGA, where some of the affected herders are from, said: “When I arrived at the scene, I could see that the driver of the truck had already been killed along with two remaining cows on the truck. I was so afraid, I couldn’t count the number of bloody dead bodies lying around. We didn’t know what to do … we had to leave quickly. We didn’t know if there would be more explosions … if more bombs would be dropped. We came back the next morning to the scene … it was devastating. I found the bodies of my two sons who were 25 and 15 years old … I didn’t know what to do.”
NAF Jet Mistakenly Bombed Over 20 Cows in Niger. Family Now in Despiar
“I can’t say how many bombs dropped, it all seemed to happen at once. We all ran far away and tried to take cover; we didn’t know if more bombs will drop in the area. About an hour after, when we didn’t hear more bombs, we started to come out of the places we were hiding and began shouting the names of our brothers who we were at the scene to see if they made it out alive and into hiding. When we didn’t hear a response from some, we began calling their phones, but we got no response. We then summoned the courage to go back to the scene, we arrived there around at 8:15 p.m. and saw them dead. When I saw the corpses, I was just shedding tears uncontrollably,” a 36-year-old man who was at the scene had said.
Human Rights Watch said 31 bodies were given a mass burial in Doma town by family members, community leaders, and Nasarawa State officials who came to commiserate with them, while eight bodies were buried in other places directed by their families.
NO COMPENSATION
While victims of the incident clamour for justice, the organisation lamented that they had not been compensated six months after.
“The military’s unacceptable delay in owning up to the killing and injuring dozens of civilians only compounds the tragedy of this shocking attack,” said Anietie Ewang, Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The Nigerian military should provide full accountability for their actions as well as financial compensation and livelihood assistance commensurate with the needs of the victims and their families.”
PREVIOUS AIRSTRIKE KILLINGS
According to the report, over 300 people, since 2017, have been killed by airstrikes targeting terrorists.
In 2017, more than 70 people were killed and over 120 others were injured when the Nigerian Air Force attacked a camp for displaced persons in Rann, Borno State. Another incident occurred in February 2019, when an airstrike killed seven children near a border between Nigeria and the Niger Republic.
In 2021, airstrikes from fighter jets targeting bandits claimed the lives of a woman and her four children at Sububu, in Zamfara State.
Last year December, scores of locals including women and children were killed by airstrikes in Mutumji Community, Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State.
Six minor girls were also killed in April 2022 by an air force jet at Kurebe village in the Shiroro local area, Niger State. The girls, identified as Maryam Lawal, Hafeezah Basiru, Shamsiyah Lawal, Shafaatu Jamilu, Asmau Isa, and Hakumi Danlami were killed near a mobile borehole situated somewhere in the village. They would be buried in three graves.
Five months after, WikkiTimes exclusively reported that eight unsuspecting villagers were killed by military airstrikes in Kurebe Village. Also, in November 2022, WikkiTimes reported that military airstrikes mistakenly killed 25 cattle belonging to one Alhaji Mallam Iliya in Garun Gabas village of Kagara-Rafi local council, Niger State.
