THE Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has attributed the deaths of approximately ten individuals following airstrikes in Sokoto to what it refers to as a “secondary explosion.”
Recently, the Sokoto government reported that ten villagers were killed and several others injured due to military operations in the Silame Local Government Area.
However, Major General Edward Buba, the Director of Defence Media Operations, explained that the fatalities and injuries resulted from “secondary explosions” rather than the airstrikes themselves.
“I mentioned secondary explosions because one of the targets was a logistics base for terrorists in the community, which housed weapon caches and supplies,” he stated during a briefing at the DHQ in Abuja yesterday.
“When the munition strikes, it can trigger secondary explosions that scatter debris, which is what led to the reported deaths. The ten individuals were not directly hit by the airstrikes.”
He added that the primary targets, identified as members of the Lakurawa terrorist group, were killed and “burned beyond recognition.”
Buba emphasized that the military confirmed the effectiveness of the strikes against the terrorist group.
“To ensure that those at the location were indeed terrorists—the Lakurawa group—we utilized human intelligence to verify before executing a synchronized operation with both the Air Force and ground forces,” he explained.
“The Air Force conducted precision strikes, and after the operation, the ground forces inspected the site and confirmed that the strikes successfully hit the intended target.”
However, Buba did not disclose the exact number of casualties, which has sparked significant discussion among Nigerians. The victims of the airstrikes have since been buried according to Islamic rites.
