By Desire Emmanuel with Agency Reports
At least 200 people are feared dead after Nigerian Air Force jets struck a village market while pursuing Islamist militants in Yobe State on Saturday night, a councillor for the area and residents told Reuters News Agency on Sunday, April 12.
The Air Force said it had killed Boko Haram militants in the Jilli axis in Borno State, but in a statement released to Reuters on Sunday, it did not mention hitting a market.
The government of Yobe State later said in a statement that an air strike on the area was conducted near a market that people were attending.
“Some people from Geidam Local Government Area bordering Gubio Local Government Area in Borno State who went to the Jilli weekly market were affected,” said Brigadier General Dahiru Abdulsalam, military adviser to the Yobe State government.
He gave no further details.
Lawan Zanna Nur Geidam, the councillor and traditional head of Fuchimeram ward in Yobe’s Geidam district told Reuters that those injured were taken to hospitals in Yobe and Borno states.
“It’s a very devastating incident at Jilli Market. As I’m speaking to you, over 200 people have lost their lives from the air strike at the market,” he said in a telephone interview.
Three other residents and an official from an international humanitarian agency confirmed the strike and likely death toll.
The Yobe State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) said it had received preliminary reports of an incident at Jilli Market “which reportedly resulted in casualties affecting some marketers” and activated emergency response.
Ahmed Ali, a 43-year-old resident who sells medical consumables at the market, said he had been injured in a blast.
“I became so scared and attempted to run away, but a friend dragged me and we all lay on the ground,” he said from hospital.
