Ten people died and more than 20 others were injured on Wednesday, September 15, when a Nigerian Air Force (NAF) fighter jet accidentally bombed Buhari village in the Yunusari Local Government Area in Yobe State.

When initial reports suggesting that a fighter jet belonging to the NAF had attacked civilians, military authorities denied the claims. The air force later took responsibility for the hit.

A military source told journalists that the bombing was “accidental” and that it was meant to target a Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’way Wa’l-Jihād (JAS), more commonly referred to as Boko Haram, camp in the area.

NAF spokesman Edward Gabkwet, affirmed that there was a fighter jet in the area and that the “the pilot fired some probing shots”.

He said “the area is well known for continuous Boko Haram/Islamic State West Africa Province activities”.

Mohammed Goje, the secretary of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), based in Damaturu, confirmed the bombing.

He said his team had quickly arrived at the scene of the bombing and had assisted the victims, two of whom were described as critically injured, to the Yobe State University Teaching Hospital, where they were receiving treatment.

Goje, who spoke to journalists after visiting the victims on Thursday, said the state government would take care of the medical expenses.

He said the administration had provided food items for the victims’ families and had taken an inventory of the affected households “for further necessary actions”.

Also on Wednesday, armed men, suspected of being members of the ISWAP, attacked Buni-Yadi, the capital of the Gujba Local Government Area in Yobe State.

No one was killed or injured in the attack.

An eyewitness, Usman Gana, told RNI reporter Shariff Brah that he wanted to flee and leave his family behind but he had decided not to.

“I heard gunshots in the air and heard the attackers shouting. I wanted to run away but I knew I could not leave my family behind. Anything could have happened to them and I would have felt so guilty and ashamed.”

He said his children had thought the attackers were thieves and not insurgents because some of them were knocking on doors asking people to open up.

“I heard them asking my neighbours to open their gates, but none of them did so. They kept quiet, hoping the insurgents would think no one was in the house.”

Gana said soldiers had arrived quickly on the scene and had repelled the insurgents.