More than 100 civilians, including children, were killed when Nigerian military jets bombed a market in the country’s northeast on April 11, 2026, marking one of the most catastrophic misfires in Nigeria’s 17-year fight against jihadist insurgents.
The strike at Jilli market continues a devastating pattern of military errors. According to an Associated Press tally, airstrikes in northeastern Nigeria have killed at least 500 civilians since 2017, with security analysts pointing to ongoing failures in intelligence and poor coordination between ground forces and pilots.
Isa Sanusi, Amnesty International’s Nigeria director, confirmed that children were among the dead. “We have their pictures and they include children,” Sanusi told the Associated Press. The human rights organization condemned the strike as unlawful and called for an independent investigation, adding that the military is “fond of” labeling civilian casualties as bandits or terrorists.
Hospitals in Geidam and Maiduguri struggled to handle the flood of wounded patients. A worker at Geidam General Hospital, speaking on condition of anonymity, said at least 23 people injured in the incident were receiving treatment. At least eight more victims died Sunday at medical facilities already overwhelmed by years of conflict-related casualties. Survivors suffered from massive trauma, burns, and shrapnel wounds.
Military aircraft conducting Operation HADIN KAI struck the market while hunting for Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province militants along the border between Borno and Yobe states. Nigeria’s Air Force acknowledged what happened and sent its Civilian Harm Accident and Investigation Cell to Jilli for a fact-finding mission. Defense officials confirmed conducting what they called a precision strike on a known terrorist location but did not immediately acknowledge civilian casualties in their first statement.
Local chief Lawan Zanna Nur Geidam told AFP that total casualties, dead and injured combined, reached approximately 200. Amnesty International and local officials confirmed the catastrophic civilian toll, with hospitals treating dozens of seriously wounded survivors.
Ahmed Ali, a 43-year-old market trader who sells medical consumables, recounted the terrifying moments when the strike hit. “I became so scared and attempted to run away, but a friend dragged me and we all lay on the ground,” he told Reuters from the hospital. Another survivor told the news agency he had been shopping for animals when approximately 30 people around him fell after being struck.
The military defended the operation, saying it had conducted a carefully coordinated strike on what it described as a terrorist enclave and logistics hub near the abandoned village of Jilli, locally known as “Kasu Daulaye” — meaning “the terrorists’ market.” The military characterized the location as having been “long identified as a major terrorist movement corridor” used by Islamic State West Africa Province fighters and their collaborators, claiming scores of terrorists were killed as they rode motorcycles in the restricted area. Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum confirmed that both Jilli and the nearby Gazabure market had been officially closed five years ago due to insurgent control.
The Yobe state government confirmed that the airstrike had targeted a Boko Haram stronghold and acknowledged that “some people…who went to the Jilli weekly market were affected.” Brigadier General Dahiru Abdulsalam, military adviser to the Yobe state government, provided no further details on the death toll. The Yobe State Emergency Management Agency dispatched response teams to assist with casualty evacuation and treatment.
Security sources acknowledged that the Jilli market has long been frequented by Boko Haram militants seeking food supplies, complicating efforts to distinguish between civilians and insurgents. Abdulmumin Bulama, a member of a civilian security group working with the military, said intelligence indicated terrorists had gathered near the market and were planning attacks on nearby communities.
Previous incidents have seen military airstrikes mistakenly hit villages, camps for displaced people, and other markets. In January 2017, at least 112 people died when a fighter jet struck a camp housing 40,000 displaced people near the Cameroon border. In December 2023, a military airstrike mistook a Muslim religious gathering for bandits in Kaduna state, killing at least 85 people. And on March 16, 2026, strikes on crowded areas in Borno State, including a market and the gate of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, killed at least 23 people and injured 108 others.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu convened a security meeting with service chiefs and the Inspector-General of Police at the Presidential Villa in Abuja following the incident. The Nigerian Air Force has promised a thorough investigation, but Amnesty International and other human rights groups demand an independent inquiry into what went wrong at Jilli market.
U.S. Africa Command spokeswoman Col. Rebecca Heyse said American forces played no role in the strike, noting that U.S. troops were “not involved in the planning, intelligence sharing or execution of this operation.”
The northeastern region has endured more than 17 years of jihadist insurgency since Boko Haram’s 2009 uprising, which spawned powerful splinter groups, including Islamic State West Africa Province. The conflict has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions, creating a humanitarian crisis that continues to challenge Nigerian security forces and international aid organizations.
The death toll may rise as some of the seriously wounded remain in critical condition. Local officials continue to compile lists of the dead and missing, while survivors grapple with injuries and the loss of family members in a region already devastated by years of conflict and instability.
