UN calls for independent investigations of deadly airstrikes in Nigeria and Chad

The United Nations high commissioner for human rights said on Wednesday that independent investigations are needed into reports of separate airstrikes by the Nigerian and Chadian armies in northern Nigeria that killed dozens of civilians.

According to sources across the country, the Nigerian military and the “bandit” gangs it is confronting killed roughly 100 civilians on Sunday, marking one of the deadliest single days in the nation’s conflict with armed groups.

Amnesty International’s Nigeria chapter reported that Nigerian military airstrikes on a crowded market in north‑western Zamfara state—an area reportedly controlled by criminal gangs—resulted in “at least 100 civilians” being killed.

A resident of a nearby village put the death toll at 117.

“I am shocked by reports that Nigerian army airstrikes on a market in … Zamfara state killed at least 100 civilians on 10 May and injured many more,” United Nations high commissioner for human rights Volker Turk said in a statement.

Turk added that he was “alarmed and saddened” by reports of high civilian casualties from attacks since Friday by Chadian fighter jets against Boko Haram camps on remote islands in the extensive marshland shared by Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad.

The bombardment is said to have killed dozens of Nigerian fishermen working on islands under Boko Haram control, where civilians are forced to pay taxes to the jihadist group.

Footage obtained by AFP showed several fishermen with severe burns receiving treatment at a hospital in Bosso, Niger.

“It is crucial that both Nigerian and Chadian authorities conduct prompt, thorough, independent and impartial investigations into these disturbing incidents,” Turk said.

The authorities in the two countries must also “ensure that those responsible for any violations are held to account, in accordance with international standards”, he insisted.

The UN rights chief said he “urgently (called) on both militaries to take all feasible precautions to avoid harm to civilians”.

“Their military operations, including against Boko Haram and the so‑called ‘Islamic State West Africa Province’, must be conducted in full compliance with international humanitarian law and international human rights law,” he said.

“Civilians and civilian objects must never be the target of attack.”

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