During a military airstrike in Dogon Daji village, Maradun LGA of Zamfara, at least 33 residents were reported to have been killed on April 10th.
As residents prepared for the Eid-el-Fitr prayer, marking the end of the sacred month of Ramadan, their peaceful morning was shattered by the deafening roar of aircraft engines and the ensuing chaos of explosions.
According to reports from Reuters, at least 33 individuals lost their lives during what was purported to be a military airstrike targeting bandits and their suspected hideouts.
Lawali Ango, the traditional head of Dogon Daji village, recounted the harrowing moments when the tranquility of the morning was shattered by the ominous presence of aircraft overhead.
His attempts to reach out to loved ones via telephone went unanswered, foreshadowing the tragedy that awaited him upon his return home.
Upon arriving at the scene, Ango was confronted with a scene of unimaginable devastation. Collapsed buildings, the grim remnants of the airstrike, entombed men, women, and children, their lives abruptly cut short in a cruel twist of fate.
“Arriving at the scene, I saw children, men and women were killed and trapped inside the collapsed buildings that were hit by a bomb.”
Ango’s testimony echoed the disbelief and anguish felt by many in the community, refuting the military’s claims of bandits seeking refuge within their village.
“They (the military) are saying the bandits escaped and sought hideouts in our village.
“There is nothing like this, I can go anywhere and confirm this to the world.”
Surajo Abubakar, a farmer whose world was forever altered by the tragedy, recounted the loss of his two wives and five children amidst the chaos of the airstrikes.
“I lost seven people in my family, and in all about 33 dead bodies were counted,” Abubakar said.
His poignant account serves as a reminder of the human toll exacted by conflict, a toll that extends far beyond mere statistics.
Abu Waziri, another resident of the village, spoke of the grim task of piecing together shattered lives and laying to rest the fallen, a solemn ritual of mourning amidst the rubble.
“We managed to be patient and put the body parts together and prayed for them and buried them,” Waziri said.
In the aftermath of the airstrike, questions lingered, and accusations flew as to the true nature of the military’s operation.
Edward Buba, director of defence media operations, vehemently denied any wrongdoing, asserting that airstrikes were conducted with precision and based on careful intelligence and surveillance.
Yet, amidst the conflicting narratives, one undeniable truth remains, the residents of Dogon Daji mourned the loss of their loved ones, grappling with the senseless brutality of violence unleashed upon their doorstep.
