At least 56 people, mostly traders, are feared dead after a military airstrike hit Jilli Market on the Borno–Yobe border on Saturday. The market, located between Gubio in Borno State and Geidam in Yobe State, was targeted by four Nigerian Air Force fighter jets during an anti-insurgency operation. The jets were reportedly tracking suspected Boko Haram fighters believed to be collecting money and supplies from traders at the market. Instead, the strike hit civilians. Between 14 and 20 injured people were taken to Specialist Hospital in Geidam. Malam Lawan Zanna, a local councillor, confirmed the attack, stating that people attempted to flee as the jets opened fire but the strikes continued. He said more than 20 people were hospitalized, with some later dying from their injuries. Brigadier General Abdulsalam Dahiru (rtd), security adviser to the Yobe State governor, confirmed the incident and clarified that the market lies within Borno State. As of the latest reports, the Nigerian Air Force had not issued an official statement on the operation.
The death of at least 56 civilians in Jilli Market raises serious questions about the operational accuracy of the Nigerian Air Force in conflict zones, particularly under the watch of military leadership that has repeatedly assured the public of improved intelligence and targeting. The fact that four fighter jets engaged a busy weekly market—where traders gather openly and predictably—suggests either a catastrophic intelligence failure or a breakdown in real-time verification protocols. Malam Lawan Zanna's account of sustained fire as people fled contradicts the military's usual narrative of precision in counterterrorism operations.
This incident did not occur in a vacuum. For years, communities in Borno and Yobe have lived under the dual threat of insurgent violence and state military action that often blurs the line between protection and peril. The military's focus on disrupting Boko Haram's supply lines is valid, but targeting traders at a market without confirmed presence of fighters risks turning local populations into collateral damage—and potential recruits for extremist narratives. The lack of an official Air Force statement, even as local officials confirm the event, deepens public distrust.
Ordinary traders, farmers, and residents in the border region now face heightened fear every time aircraft appear overhead. These are people trying to sustain livelihoods in fragile economies, not combatants. Their deaths do not just represent a loss of life but a collapse of the state's promise to shield civilians in conflict zones.
This is not the first time civilians have borne the brunt of military air operations in the northeast. A pattern of such incidents over the past decade suggests systemic flaws in targeting protocols, accountability, or both.
