A witness to the airstrike on Kwatar Daban Masara has told RNI that insurgents attacked the Nigerian military fighter plane first and only then did it start bombing the village.

However, this has not been corroborated by other victims and residents in the village or by official sources.

The witness, a fisherman called Kyari Goni, who was one of the victims of the bombing, said: “We woke up on Sunday morning and were about to eat our breakfast. We saw some smoke around the fighter plane and it looked like insurgents had fired at it. Before our mouths were even closed, we saw the bombs drop.”

Goni told RNI reporter Fatima Grema Modu he knew that at least eight fishermen had died and more than 18 were severely injured in last bombing.

Other reports put the death toll at more than 20.

Goni said most of the fishermen lived in the bush close to the Lake Chad shoreline.

“We go to the riverside every day to catch as many fish as possible because it is our only means of livelihood. We have seen military fighter planes in the area, but they have never bombed anyone before.

Goni said his elder brother, Modu Buduma, had died in the bombing.

“I was trying to help him but my hands had been injured and there were wounds all over my body.”

He said he trekked for at least three hours from his village to the nearest motor park and got a car to take him to the Monguno Local Government Area, where he was treated for a day.

“After that I was taken to Maiduguri for proper treatment.”

Goni said his medical bills were paid by the Monguno Fishermen Association because he didn’t have money.

He said there were more than 300 people in Kwatar Daban Masara and most of them had been displaced. He did not know of any government intervention in the area.

“The government is unfair to us because they know we are not insurgents and we do not have any connections with the extremists. They know the only way we can survive is to leave our village and live near the shore. We work hard to feed ourselves and our families. The government does not help us,” Goni said.

Goni is in the Ali Monguno Teachers’ Village in Maiduguri where he is receiving medical treatment. He did not know of any other fishermen being treated in Maiduguri.

He broke down in tears when he was asked about family and loved ones, saying he had not seen them before he was taken to Maiduguri and he did not know if they were alive or not.

The Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) recently lifted a ban on fishermen in its territory, allowing them to fish in the freshwater for a fee. This had led to an influx of fisherman who had previously abandoned the area because of violent conflict.

Reuters said in a report published on Wednesday that a source known only as Husaini had told the news agency that two planes had bombed a fish market in Kwatar Daban Masara on Sunday.

“At least 50 people were killed instantly … including my friend who got married just three weeks ago,” Husaini said.

Another resident, who asked not to be named, told Reuters that locals had been fishing despite a military ban on the trade because of allegations the sales of fish were funding ISWAP.

The resident said he had seen the corpses of at least 60 people after the air force strike.