The Amnesty International Nigeria (Al), yesterday, shockingly revealed that Nigerian Air Force and herdsmen attacked eight villages in Adamawa State a few minutes apart, leading to many people being killed and several houses razed.
This revelation came just as Nigerians were battling to buy the federal government’s story that terrorists were actually the ‘herdsmen’ attacking and killing Nigerians.
Al present revelation has thrust up more puzzles, drawing attention to unnecessary death occasioned by airstrikes carried out by air force.
According to Al, the Nigerian authorities’ response to communal violence is totally inadequate, too slow and ineffective, and in some cases unlawful. Al further disclosed that clashes between herdsmen and farmers in Adamawa, Benue, Taraba, Ondo and Kaduna states have resulted in 168 deaths in January 2018 alone.
The Director of Al Nigeria, Osai Ojigho said: “The government must totally overturn its response to these deadly clashes to avoid this crisis getting out of control. They need to investigate and bring suspects to justice. Hundreds of people lost their lives last year, and the government is still not doing enough to protect communities from these violent clashes. Worse, the killers are getting away with murder. In some cases where the Nigerian security agencies did respond to communal violence, they used excessive or unlawful force resulting in even more deaths and destruction.”
Al revealed that on December 4, 2017, the Nigeria Air Force deployed an Alpha Jet and EC 135 attack helicopter to respond to an attack on villages in Demsa and Numan Local Government Area by armed herdsmen. The air raids occurred as hundreds of herdsmen attacked eight villages in Adamawa State to avenge the massacre of up to 51 members of their community, mostly children, and the previous month in the nearby village Kikan.
“On November 29, amid fears of reprisals by herdsmen, police announced they would deploy 315 extra officers in the area. Witnesses from Lawaru, Dong, Kodomti, Shafaron and Nzuruwei villages, described being attacked by a fighter jet and a military helicopter as they attempted to flee. In some villages, the air attacks happened at the same time as the raids, while in other villages the air force arrived shortly afterwards, witnesses told Amnesty International,” said Al.
Al disclosed that across the five villages visited, some 3,000 homes were destroyed.
Ojigho said: “Launching air raids is not a legitimate law enforcement method by anyone’s standard. Such reckless use of deadly force is unlawful, outrageous and lays bare the Nigerian military’s shocking disregard for the lives of those it supposedly exists to protect.
“This is unlawful and excessive force on a catastrophic scale. It is yet another tragic example where Nigeria’s armed forces are found applying deadly military tactics to law enforcement situations. The Nigerian authorities must investigate these attacks and, where these investigations indicate criminal responsibility, prosecute those responsible and bring them to justice.”
Al said that as the herdsmen shot people and torched homes, and the air raid resulted in fire, it was not possible to establish how much of the death and destruction was a direct result of the air attacks or attributable to the attack by herdsmen.
It further noted that locals in each village provided Al with lists of the dead, which totalled 86 names. The locals reportedly told Al said that most victims were buried in individual graves, but in Dong some 28 victims were buried in a mass grave. Dong and Lawaru had the highest number of fatalities.
Al explained that based on witness testimony, field observations, determination of the nature of weapons used as well as analysis of photographic, aerial and satellite images, Al believes that the air raids caused significant destruction.
“Witnesses involved in the identification and burial of the victims said that 51 victims had gunshot or machete wounds, while 35 died as a result of the airstrikes.”
The Nigerian Air Force’s Director of Public Relations, Air Commodore Olatokunbo Adesanya, confirmed the air raid and was quoted in local media describing the air raids as “warning shots, not shots to kill.”
He said that air force prompted people to flee the area. Two weeks after the incident Adesanya revised the account, saying that the herdsmen opened fire on the aircraft. Witnesses from Lawaru, Dong, Kodomti, Shafaron and Nzuruwei villages described being attacked by a fighter jet and a military helicopter as they attempted to flee.
In some villages, the air attacks were said to have happened at the same time as the raids, while in other villages, the air force arrived shortly afterwards, alleged witnesses.
According to witnesses, the air force returned hours after the herdsmen had left and shot rockets at the palace. Witnesses further alleged that the palace was destroyed by a second air raid in the afternoon, after the herdsmen had left. They said they found remnants of the rockets in the palace.
Al said that on December 6, 2017, burned vegetation is visible within and around the village.
Ojigho said: “Communal violence clearly warrants a response from the state, but to launch rockets into villages as a ‘warning’ is absolutely unlawful. Rather than intervening with a proportionate response on the ground, the military clearly chose tactics designed to kill and neutralize an enemy from the air.”
Residents described terrifying scenes as aircraft opened fire on their homes. A farmer from Shafaron said a helicopter and a jet launched their air raid just after the herdsmen arrived.
The farmer said: “The helicopter and the jet started releasing bombs. Houses started burning. Children started running for their lives. Mothers packed up their children and escaped with them. We men were unable to fight back and we started running too. This jet burnt our houses and properties to ashes.”
A traditional ruler of one of the villages, whose house was destroyed in the air raid, also described how the aircraft arrived shortly after the herdsmen.
He recollected: “As we were trying to hide, we saw a helicopter and a jet arrive and started shooting and bombing houses. When they saw somebody trying to hide, the jet would just blast them with bombs.”
Drone footage and ground photos taken in Kodomti after the event, show severely burned structures. Most of the thatched roof huts appear severely burned. People are visible in the village rebuilding after the attacks.
Drone footage and ground photos taken in Shafaron after the attack, show severely burned structures. Almost every thatched roof and fence appears burned. New fencing and grass is visible as villagers begin to rebuild.
Al confirmed that the Air Force deployed an Alpha Jet which shot SNEB 68mm rockets at the villages during and after the attack by the herdsmen.
Al further said: “Rockets and their remnants were found in Dong, Nzuruwei, Shafaron and Kodomti; while unexploded rockets were found in Shafaron. Experts identified the munitions as French-made SNEB rockets, which the Air Force is known to use for the Alpha Jets. The 68mm unguided rockets can be fired from “pods” affixed to aircraft. These can be seen on multiple pictures and videos of Nigeria aircrafts. The size and colour of the SNEB rockets, olive green, matches the finish on the rockets photographed after the attack. Though not an unusual colour for ammunition, most of the SNEB rockets of the period appear to be brown, rather than green.”
When AI visited the villages, witnesses showed them the impact of the rockets fired. Al could confirm the damage was from explosives and shrapnel, rather than fire. Witnesses also said the attack helicopter shot at them; experts reviewed photos which show several high velocity rifle rounds.
Between December 6 and 15, AI interviewed 15 witnesses and visited Baya, Lawaru, Dong, Ko- domti, Shafaron and Nzuruwei villages.
Al took more than 150 photos and videos of the impact on the ground and the remnants of the rockets found in the villages. The organization also reviewed more than 50 photos taken by witnesses, including 20 pictures of those who were killed in the attacks.
In addition, Al reviewed a video of a controlled explosion of one of the rockets in Shafaron on December 12. AI secured and reviewed satellite and aerial imagery of the villages. The organization also shared photos and videos of the impact, rockets and remnants with weapons experts for analysis.
In 2017, clashes between nomadic herdsmen and local farmers resulted in at least 549 deaths and thousands displaced across Enugu, Benue, Taraba, Zamfara, Kaduna, Plateau, Nasarawa, Niger, Plateau, Cross Rivers, Adamawa, Katsina, Delta and Ekiti states.
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