Nigeria Air force Jet bombs Borno village, kills ten unarmed villagers, residents say

The residents said they had earlier reported Boko Haram presence in their village.

A Nigerian Air force fighter jet allegedly bombed a village in Borno State killing 10 unarmed villagers, residents have said.

Residents of Kayamla Village, 20km south of Maiduguri, the Borno capital, said they were shocked when the fighter jets without provocation fired at residents, many of whom were going about their normal businesses.

The residents said Thursday’s attack by the military comes days after the villagers reported to security forces that some Boko Haram gunmen had camped in the village’s primary school after the attack on the military barracks in Maiduguri last week Friday.

“We told the military people that after that attack on the barracks in Maiduguri, some of the Boko Haram terrorists passed through our village, Gambori, and went to Kayamla where they chased the people out of the village and camped at the primary school till Saturday”, Alhaji Lawan, a community leader in Gambori, said.

A resident of Kayamla, who sought anonymity for security reasons, said, “We sighted them (Boko Haram members) cooking and eating all night. So we had to inform the military that these groups of terrorists were camping in Kayamla.

“But no one turned up until about five days later that we saw a fighter jet coming to shoot at innocent villagers, long after the Boko Haram had left. We regretted giving such kind of intelligence or information to the military, because it has cost us the lives of our 10 innocent people.

“We still do not understand why they (soldiers) don’t chase the Boko Haram into their hideouts, up till now we have them (Boko Haram) attacking our isolated hamlets and villages. Just three days ago, they attacked a small village called Yawal near Konduga town, and killed a young man and stole away about 36 cows.”

Neither the military nor the Air Force officials have issued any statement on Thursday’s air raids.

Security sources said the air raids might be the federal government’s way of increasing the onslaught on the Boko Haram terrorists, who have, in 2014, carried out daring attacks on civilian residences and military formations killing hundreds of people.

President Goodluck Jonathan said on Thursday in Namibia that the federal government would no longer treat the insurgents with ‘kid gloves’.

Also, an improvised explosive device planted in the centre of a market in Ngurosoye Village on Thursday reportedly killed 16 people.

Details were still sketchy as at press time, but sources in the area said many of the victims were traders in the market.