Amnesty International has accused Nigeria Air Force of killing at least 35 people in attacks on villages in the northeastern state of Adamawa.
The Amnesty also claimed that air force fighter jets fired rockets at the villages On Dec. 4, to deter communal clashes adding that the cycle of violence and revenge attacks were made to grip Adamawa state.
According to them “The helicopter and the jet started releasing bombs. Houses started burning. Children started running for their lives,” an unnamed farmer from the village of Shafaron told Amnesty’’.
Meanwhile, Air Force spokesman Olatokunbo Adesanya had denied the allegation saying Air Force did not bomb any locations in the region or fired shots targeting people, he said it only opened fire to dissuade looters and vandals.
Residents of the villages, however, affirmed they were being fired upon by a fighter jet and military helicopter as they attempted to flee, saying that hundreds of herdsmen took part in the revenge attack on the communities.
Describing the devastating effect of the herders and Air Force attacks, on the villages and the heavy damage triggered by fire.” Amnesty said ‘’they burned husks of vehicles’’.
She showed blackened houses reduced in parts to rubble in an accompanying video and also Satellite images depicting large swathes of settlements ravaged by the fire were also shown.
Amnesty disclosed, eighty-six people died, with the Nigerian air force responsible for at least 35 deaths, and some 3,000 homes were destroyed in the five villages visited.
It revealed that the air raids occurred in the villages of Lawaru, Dong, Kodomti, Shafaron, and Nzuruwei, where Amnesty International interviewed a total of 15 witnesses, claiming that the villager made available to Amnesty international names of the deceased persons, totaling 86.
