Airstrikes from fighter jets targeting bandits have reportedly claimed the lives of a woman and her four children in the Sububu area in Zamfara State.
Multiple sources told Daily Trust that the aircraft belonging to the Nigerian Air Force was targeting bandits at the expansive Sububu Forest located between Shinkafi and Maradun Local Governments when the unfortunate incident happened.
From the forest, they launch attacks on travelers on Sokoto-Gusau Road as well as villages in Sokoto and Zamfara States.
Sources said the aerial missions were conducted around 2pm on Monday.
In phone interviews, four different persons confirmed that the fighter jets missed their targets by dropping the bombs on the Sububu village, rather than the bandits’ enclave in the forest.
“The bombs killed a woman and her four children. Two of the kids, a boy and a girl, were teenagers. One elderly woman was also wounded in the attacks,” a Sububu resident told Daily Trust.
He said a new Friday mosque built by a bandits’ kingpin, Halilu Sububu, was also destroyed during the attacks.
The source said nobody was trapped in the mosque because the attack happened after worshippers had observed the afternoon prayers.
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The NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Gabriel Gabkwet, stated that he was not able to confirm the incident yet.
He said, “I just got off the phone with Alhaji Mohammad Ibrahim, the Director of Security, Ministry of Internal Security, Zamfara State who confirmed the happiness of the state government over the precise nature of the strike by NAF jet.
“Till now, the remnants of the bandits are evacuating and departing from the Sububu Forest general area. Now, the strike was in Sububu Forest and not anywhere close to any village. I find it hard to believe except if those accidentally killed were residing in the forest.”