At least 12 people were killed in a Nigerian Air Force airstrike in Guradnayi, a village near Kusasu in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State. The attack occurred around 5 a.m. on Sunday, according to Auta Awododo, a local resident with direct knowledge of the incident. Awododo confirmed that 12 of those killed were in a single house, including his cousin's son, while others were Kusasu residents fleeing from armed attackers. The airstrikes followed reports of armed men on motorcycles moving through the area, pursued by military aircraft. Two bombs were reportedly dropped—one near a river in Kusasu and the second in Guradnayi. A security source confirmed the armed group had moved into neighbouring Munya, where they remain active around Kabul near Kuchi. The source added that no confirmed killings or abductions had been reported in that area, but many cattle had been rustled from local communities. Residents said the military action is the latest in a series of airstrikes in Shiroro that have resulted in civilian deaths, with past incidents remaining unresolved. The Nigerian Air Force has not issued an official statement, and its spokesperson has not responded to inquiries. This incident follows another airstrike last month in Borno State, where over 200 civilians died after a weekly market along the Yobe-Borno border was bombed. At least ten cases of military airstrikes killing civilians have been recorded across northern Nigeria and the Middle Belt in the past decade.
The Nigerian Air Force continues to conduct airstrikes that kill civilians, including 12 in Guradnayi, even after over 200 died in a similar incident in Borno last month. The military's failure to prevent repeat errors suggests a pattern of operational failure with direct consequences for people in Shiroro, Munya and other conflict-affected communities. No accountability has followed previous civilian deaths, and none is expected now. The lives of Nigerians caught between terrorists and the military remain equally at risk from both.
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