The parents of two of the six children who died in an airstrike from a Nigerian Air Force jet strike on Wednesday were killed by bandits two years ago, PREMIUM TIMES learned on Thursday.
Residents said the six children were killed when a Nigerian Air Force plane bombed their residence in Kurebe, in the state’s Shiroro local government.
Salis Sabo, a spokesman for the Coalition of Shiroro Association (COSA), said the incident occurred on the morning of Wednesday, April 13, as the children were returning from a motorized well in the community where they had gone to fetch water.
“The other two children who lost their lives in the incidents have long lost their parents. One of them is the daughter of the late Malam Isah Kurebe and the other is the daughter of the late Malam Adamu Kurebe, who was killed by the terrorists two years ago.
“The innocent child he left behind has now been taken by a similar fate. This is the second time this type of incident has occurred, Sabo said in a statement.
He said a man who lost two of his daughters and two granddaughters in the incident said there were no bandits in the village at the time the plane bombed the community.
He added that the insurgents’ camps are well known and wondered why they were not attacked by the air force.
“The insurgents around the community are from two groups, with two different camps. One connects to the community through Unguwan Zomo, the other through the Kwantan Yashi area. We don’t know why the fighter jet would target the community where the civilians live,” Sabo said.
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According to the statement, residents of the area whose home was destroyed said they were living at the mercy of the insurgents.
The gunmen enter the community at will, loot their property and rape their daughters, wives and even their mothers.
They force the residents to live in the village (perhaps to use them as human shields against attacks by the military) and deal with anyone who tries to leave.
“While we continue to vent, get pissed off, kick up dust and even tear down the roof when the occasion calls for it, so that the Government does what it has sworn to do. However, the continued pampering of these nefarious vermin inflicting terror straight from the gutter will leave us much to infer,” Sabo said.
Nigerian Air Force spokesman Edward Gabkwet could not immediately be reached for comment.