On the afternoon of Saturday, April 11, 2026, four Nigerian Air Force (NAF) jets circled the weekly market in Jilli, a border community straddling Gubio LGA in Borno State and Geidam Local Government Area (LGA) in Yobe State. Traders from surrounding communities — Gubio, Chiweram, Benisheikh, Gurokayeya — had gathered as they reportedly do every week. Then the jets opened fire. By the time the smoke cleared, eyewitnesses counted at least 56 corpses. 

NAF spokesperson Air Commodore Ehimen Ejodame said the force had “taken note” of the reports and activated its Civilian Harm Accident and Investigation Cell (CHAI-Cell). The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sunday Aneke, ordered an immediate probe. The Air Component of Operation HADIN KAI, in an earlier statement, had claimed it “neutralised scores of terrorists” at a “known terrorist enclave and logistics hub” near Jilli. Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum backed the military, saying the state government had formally closed Jilli and Gazabure markets five years ago due to insurgent use. “The area had been designated a high-risk zone with clear security advisories restricting civilian presence,” the Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, said in a subsequent statement on Tuesday, April 14, describing the strike as “deliberate, intelligence-led,” not accidental.

Survivors told AFP a different story. “I don’t know if there were jihadists at the market,” said Mala Garba, 42, speaking from a Maiduguri hospital bed where he was recovering from bullet wounds. 

Hundreds of civilians feared dead following airstrikes by the Nigerian Air Force yesterday against a market in Jilli, Borno State in northeast Nigeria.

According to the army, "scores of [ISWAP] terrorists" were killed, however upon further confirmation it became evident that the… pic.twitter.com/cgn6IxZLgO

— Brant (@BrantPhilip_) April 12, 2026

This is the conflict at the centre of the Jilli story: the military says it hit a terrorist target. Survivors say they were civilians at a market. An investigation is ongoing. But if it concludes that innocent Nigerians died, again, in a botched airstrike, it would not be a shock. It would be one of at least 18 reported incidents, including 16 widely documented cases, in the last decade. One of such errant airstrikes has even led to the killing of 20 soldiers on April 25, 2021. Despite calls for the air force to get its act together, at least 13 accidents have happened since the deadly strike on soldiers, continuing a pattern of poorly executed strikes.

Besides the latest disputed incident in Jilli, here are 16 confirmed incidents of NAF mistakenly targeting and killing civilians in the last decade: 

1. January 2017: Rann IDP Camp, Borno State

Casualties: 115 killed, 97 injured

The most internationally condemned and deadly incident on this list happened on January 17, 2017. A NAF jet, on a mission against Boko Haram, bombed an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp near the Cameroonian border in Rann. Among the dead were approximately 20 Red Cross volunteers and staff from Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). 

Major-General Lucky Irabor, who would become Chief of Defence Staff a few years later, confirmed the error — the first time the Nigerian military publicly admitted to such a mistake. The Defence Headquarters’ own panel found the cause was a failure to appropriately mark the camp. President Buhari issued condolences.

2. April 2019: Tangaram Village, Zamfara State

Casualties: At least six children killed, 17 injured

After a break in 2017, the erroneous strikes returned in April 2019 when a military air raid struck Tangaram village during a counter-banditry operation. Six children, including one identified as Sakinah, were killed. Her brother Nuhu, nine years old, suffered ear injuries. Their mother, Aina’u Umaru, was 135 kilometres away in Gusau when she got the news. By the time she returned, her daughter had been buried. The military said it was pursuing bandits who had fled into the village. “If it was confirmed that bandits ran into the town, is it appropriate to bomb a village of thousands of people?” Umaru later asked Al Jazeera.

3. April 2020: Sakotoku Village, Damboa LGA, Borno State

Casualties: 17 killed, including children

A year later, a NAF jet targeting Boko Haram positions struck a residential area in Sakotoku village instead. Seventeen civilians, including children, were killed, on April 9, 2020. No known public inquiry was established. The incident highlighted the difficulty of distinguishing civilian settlements from insurgent positions using aerial surveillance alone, particularly in communities where Boko Haram fighters operate within, or move through, populated areas.

4. September 2021: Buhari community, Yunusari Local Government Area of Yobe State

Casualties: Nine Killed, many injured

The only incident in 2021 came on September 15, 2021, when a NAF fighter jet killed nine civilians in the Buhari community, Yunusari Local Government Area of Yobe State, while targeting Boko Haram/ISWAP. At least 30 other villagers sustained injuries and are now receiving medical attention at a government health facility in Geidam.

After an initial denial, NAF Director of Public Relations and Information Edward Gabkwet, explained away the incident, saying the location of the incident was a notorious lair for terrorists and “well known for continuous Boko Haram/ISWAP activities,” similar language to what was deployed after the most recent strike in Jilli last Saturday. 

5. February 2022: Nachade village, Madarounfa, Niger

Casualties: Seven children killed, five injured

Less than six months after the Buhari strike in Nigeria, seven children were killed in Niger in a stray air strike by the Nigerian army targeting “armed bandits” in Nachade, a village in the area of Madarounfa. Niger’s Maradi region governor, Chaibou Aboubacar, said four were killed instantly and three died on their way to hospital following the strike on February 18, 2022.

By this point, a pattern had already formed: supposed intelligence-led strikes, civilian deaths, and explanations that rarely led to visible consequences.

6. July 2022: Kunkuna Village, Katsina State

Casualties: 1 killed, 13 injured

Again, on July 5, 2022, a NAF airstrike hit Kunkuna village in Katsina during operations against bandit groups. One person was killed and thirteen residents wounded. 

Abduljalal Haruna, a lawmaker in the Katsina state house of assembly, said: “No communication has been made between the air force and my people over the bombing error.”

7. December 2022: Mutumji Village, Zamfara State

Casualties: 64 killed

Also, on December 18, 2022, 64 civilians were killed when an airstrike struck Mutumji village in Zamfara during a military operation targeting armed groups.

The high death toll prompted widespread outrage and calls for investigation, but as with previous incidents, no formal findings were released to the public. 

8. January 2023: Doma, Nasarawa State

Casualties: 39 killed

At least 39 herders gathered for a livestock market in Doma Local Government Area of Nasarawa State were killed when a military airstrike hit the area on January 24, 2023. 

NAF did not take responsibility for the deadly strike until a year later. The military, which had claimed the strike was based on “credible intelligence,” expressed regret, saying the group had been misidentified as armed bandits. 

9. January 2023: Galadiman Kogo, Niger State

Casualties: 30 killed

The same day as the Nasarawa strike, at least 30 vigilantes were reportedly killed by a Nigerian military air strike in Galadima Kogo in Niger State, extending the pattern of deadly failures. 

Eyewitnesses said the air force likely mistook Joint Security Task Force (JTF) members who were patrolling the area for terrorists. 

10. December 2023: Tudun Biri Village, Igabi LGA, Kaduna State

Casualties: At least 85 killed 

The deadliest documented accidental bombing since Rann. A Nigerian Army drone targeting bandits struck a religious gathering in Tudun Biri village instead on December 5, 2023. Survivors said the village was hit by two airstrikes, including one that killed many who rushed to the scene to rescue victims of the initial strike. 

President Tinubu called it “painful” and ordered a full investigation. The army eventually announced court martial proceedings against two officers, but the result is unknown. One year after the incident, victims and their families were still waiting for any form of support or closure.

11. April 2024: Dogon Daji village, Maradun LGA, Zamfara State

Casualties: 33 killed

The first incident of 2024 occured on April 10, 2024 when an errant airstrike struck Dogon Daji village in Zamfara State, killing at least 33 people. Residents were reportedly preparing for the Eid-el-Fitr prayer that marked the end of the Ramadan fasting when their community was struck by the Nigerian military. 

The military said the airstrikes had eliminated bandits in several locations in Zamfara, including Maradun LGA. But Lawali Ango, the traditional head of Dogon Daji village in Maradun, told Reuters there were no bandits in his area of mainly Muslim Zamfara. 

12. September 2024: Kaduna State

Casualties: 24 killed, dozens injured

Five months later, an airstrike intended for criminal gang hideouts killed 24 civilians and left dozens wounded in Kaduna State on September 27, 2024.

NAF said in a statement it was investigating the Kaduna allegations but added that the airstrike was based on “credible intelligence” from numerous reliable sources and “confirmatory surveillance of the target area” before the strike.

13. December 2024: Gidan Sama and Rumtuwa, Sokoto State

Casualties: At least 10 killed

Similarly, military jets targeting the Lakurawa terror group struck the communities of Gidan Sama and Rumtuwa communities in Surame LGA of Sokoto State on December 25, 2024. At least 10 civilians were killed in the Christmas Day tragedy.

Then-Chief of Defence Staff Christopher Musa (now Minister of Defence) refused to acknowledge the killing of civilians as an error, while controversially suggesting that the slain villagers made themselves targets for harbouring terrorists, a framing that would reappear in subsequent incidents, including the latest controversial strike in Jilli.

"That area Jilli, had been banned for a very long time. I've had the privilege of operating within that area. Nobody in that area was innocent. None of them. I can attest to it." — Minister of Defense pic.twitter.com/JuGJrjD1mJ

— TallJohn🌍 (@JohnFanimokun) April 14, 2026

14. January 2025: Tungar Kara village, Zurmi LGA, Zamfara State

Casualties: 16 killed

Less than three weeks later and about two years after 30 vigilantes were killed in an accidental air strike in Niger State, a NAF airstrike erroneously targeted and killed 16 members of a local vigilante group and farmers in the vicinity of Tungar Kara village, Zurmi LGA of Zamfara. 

The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Hasan Abubakar, described the incident, which occurred on January 11, 2025, as a “painful departure” from the Air Force’s operational standards and made the familiar pledge of ensuring greater precision in the future. However, that pledge did not stop another accidental strike the next month.

15. February 2025: Safana Area, Katsina State

Casualties: At least six killed

Within weeks of the Zamfara strike, another airstrike hit the Safana area of Katsina State, killing at least six people at what residents described as a community event. The NAF spokesperson said the strike was in response to a rebel attack on a police division and called the civilian casualty reports “deeply troubling” but there is no evidence that the military punished any personnel for another deadly mistake.

16. May 2025: Maraya and Wabi, Maru LGA, Zamfara State

Casualties: At least five killed

In yet another ironic incident, a military jet struck and killed at least five vigilantes who were in active pursuit of bandits on May 31, 2025. The vigilantes had gone after armed men responsible for a cattle raid and kidnapping when they were struck.

The string of accidental strikes that have killed over 500 civilians in the last decade points to systemic failures that nobody in authority has meaningfully fixed. Also, these cases indicate a pattern of the military often making promises of investigating the deadly incidents with little or no result, leaving a consistent record of civilian deaths without clear accountability.

So, the question is no longer whether these incidents happen. The record shows they do. The question is whether the system responsible for them is capable of preventing the next one.