The National Coordinator of Concern and Patriotic Citizen Human Rights Activist, Hamza N. Dantani, has strongly condemned the recurring airstrikes targeting innocent residents across Northern Nigeria.
He has called on the Nigerian military to launch an immediate and independent investigation into the root causes of these deadly operations.
In a petition personally signed and addressed to the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Hassan Abubakar, Dantani expressed deep sorrow and outrage over the most recent incident involving a Nigerian Air Force fighter jet which, on June 2, 2025, mistakenly killed at least 20 vigilantes during an operation in Zamfara State.
According to him, this is not an isolated incident. He recalled that on January 11, 2025, at least 16 civilians were also killed in Zamfara under similar circumstances.
He also pointed to the airstrike on September 27, 2024, in Kaduna State, which claimed 24 lives, all allegedly mistaken for bandits.
Dantani referenced additional cases documented by Human Rights Watch in 2023, including an airstrike in Nasarawa State that killed 39 people in January, and another in Tudun Biri, Kaduna State, where 85 civilians died during a religious celebration in December.
He also cited a January 2017 incident in which at least 112 people were killed when a jet mistakenly struck a camp housing 40,000 displaced persons near the Cameroonian border.
He stressed that the repeated nature of these so-called accidents raises serious questions about the competence of the Nigerian Air Force and reflects a grave failure in military accountability and operational procedures.
He argued that recurring mistakes, especially when they result in mass civilian casualties, can no longer be considered mere errors but rather a troubling pattern of recklessness, negligence, and disregard for civilian lives.
Dantani criticized the Air Force’s routine apologies and promises of compensation, describing them as hollow gestures that bring no justice to grieving families forced to bury their loved ones—many of whom were community members actively contributing to local security efforts, such as the vigilantes killed in Zamfara.
He stressed that airstrikes should not be treated as legitimate tools of law enforcement, especially in civilian-populated areas, noting that the use of such deadly force without verified intelligence is unlawful and shocking.
He added that the continued lack of consequences for those responsible points to systemic impunity within the military.
According to him, many Nigerians, especially in the North, no longer perceive these strikes as accidental.
Instead, there is a growing belief that these are calculated actions that deepen insecurity rather than resolve it. Whether or not this perception is accurate, he warned, it is dangerous and deeply corrosive to public trust in national security institutions.
Dantani, describing himself as a concerned patriotic citizen, lawyer, and human rights activist, urged the Chief of Air Staff to take urgent and decisive action.
These, he said, include halting indiscriminate airstrikes in civilian areas, initiating an independent investigation into the June 2 incident and previous similar occurrences, holding responsible personnel accountable, providing transparent compensation to affected families, and reforming airstrike protocols and intelligence systems to ensure the protection of civilian lives.
He concluded by stating that being a military officer is not a license to kill with impunity.
The Nigerian Air Force, he said, must rise to its constitutional duty to protect the lives and property of Nigerians rather than contribute to the trauma and suffering that communities in Northern Nigeria have endured for far too long.
