The Nigerian Air Force conducted an airstrike on a weekly market in Jilli village near the Borno–Yobe border, resulting in over 50 civilian deaths, according to reports. Prominent Islamic cleric Sheikh Ahmad Gumi has called for an immediate investigation into the incident, demanding accountability for who authorized and executed the attack. In a Facebook post on Sunday, Gumi questioned the military's targeting protocols, citing the Jilli strike alongside previous incidents in Tudun Biri, Nasarawa, and Sokoto where civilians were reportedly killed. He described these events as part of a recurring pattern of military operations affecting non-combatants. Gumi emphasized that counterterrorism efforts should not come at the cost of civilian lives, warning that such actions risk undermining public confidence. He specifically called on the Senate to initiate urgent hearings into what he termed repeated "mistakes" involving bombings of villages, markets, and civilian areas. Gumi stated, "Who are the pilots behind these bomb releases on innocent locals?" and added, "We need answers not condolences."
Sheikh Ahmad Gumi's direct naming of the pilots as figures needing exposure marks a rare challenge to the military's operational opacity, placing him in a contentious space where religious authority confronts state security machinery. His demand for the identities of those who carried out the Jilli airstrike shifts the conversation from abstract accountability to personal responsibility, a move few public figures have dared make in recent years.
This is not the first time civilian casualties from military airstrikes have sparked national outcry, yet the repetition in locations—Tudun Biri, Nasarawa, Sokoto, now Jilli—suggests systemic flaws in intelligence or targeting procedures within the air force's counterinsurgency framework. Gumi's reference to multiple incidents undermines the official narrative of isolated errors, pointing instead to a deeper pattern that erodes trust, especially in already vulnerable communities in the North. The fact that he framed the Senate as the necessary corrective body reflects a strategic turn to legislative oversight in the face of executive silence.
Ordinary Nigerians, particularly those in rural border communities, bear the brunt of these operations, living under the dual threat of insurgency and state firepower. When markets become danger zones, economic and social life is disrupted beyond the immediate loss of life.
This reflects a broader trend: the expanding footprint of military action in civilian spaces, with diminishing public confidence in its precision or justification.
