According to the local community leader, the military airstrike that hit two villages in Sokoto on Wednesday claimed the lives of 10 civilians.
The incident which occurred around 7am at Gidan Sama and Rumtuwa communities in Silame Local Government Area, also left many other people injured.
The locals said the fighter jet was targeting Lakurawa terrorists in the areas, but in the process, dropped explosives on some innocent people.
However, the military, in a statement yesterday said the airstrike was carefully organised and the real culprits targeted.
Governor Ahmed Aliyu of Sokoto State condoled the villagers promising set up a committee to investigate the incident in order to avert future reoccurrence.
The governor who had spoken in Hausa language stated: “I visited the families of the victims…I am devastated, It wasn’t a deliberate act by the security operatives.
“They were actually targeting the invading terrorists. They succeeded in neutralising them during the first and the second attempts of the operation. It was the third operation that went awry.
“And as Muslims, we should accept what happened in good faith. I participated in the funeral prayers for the deceased; may their souls rest in peace,” Aliyu prayed.
He also donated relief materials: N20 million and 100 bags of grains to the families of the victims.
Reacting to the bombing of Sokoto communities, the military insisted that those killed in the airstrike had links with the notorious terrorists’ group, Lakurawa.
The military, through one of its operations codenamed “Operation Fansan Yamma” under the Joint Task Force North West, admitted that it carried out the airstrike.
Coordinator, Joint Media Coordination Centre of the Operation, Abubakar Abdullahi, a Lieutenant-Colonel, explained that military operations are conducted based on thorough intelligence and reconnaissance missions.
According to him, the rigorous process was particularly important when targeting groups like the Lakurawa terrorist organization, saying it aimed at ensuring precision and protect civilian lives.
The senior military officer appealed to Nigerians to rely on confirmed information to prevent misinformation and unnecessary panic owing to the serious nature of the operations.
He said: “There is a significant risk that terrorist groups may attempt to undermine military successes through media disinformation, necessitating caution concerning unverified claims, especially in the ongoing fight against terrorism and banditry.
“Importantly, the targets struck in the vicinity of Gidan Sama and Rumtuwa have been positively identified as associated with the Lakurawa group, reinforcing the justification for the military action taken,” he said.
However, while reacting at the time, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) said the community was not telling the truth.
The Deputy Director, Public Relations and Information, NAF, Group Captain Kabiru Ali, told Daily Trust at the time that the airstrikes were only rained on the logistics base of terrorists.
Ali, who said there was no mosque in the area, shared with Daily Trust, pictorial evidence of how the location was before and after the operation.
He said the operation was carried out following credible intelligence indicating a huge presence of terrorists and their weapons cache in the Yadi Forest.
He said reports from independent sources, including local informants around the general area, confirmed that the logistics base was totally destroyed and scores of terrorists were killed as a result of the attack.