Jilli Airstrike: Defence Chief Says Killed Persons Were Terrorist Collaborators

Jilli Airstrike: Defence Chief Says Killed Persons Were Terrorist Collaborators

The Chief of Defence Staff, Christopher Musa, has defended the controversial Jilli airstrike in Borno State, insisting that individuals killed in the operation were not innocent civilians but persons actively involved in supporting insurgent groups.

Musa made the clarification during an interview on Arise TV Live after a high-level security meeting chaired by President Bola Tinubu, where national security issues in the North-East were reviewed.

He said the operation was carried out based on credible intelligence reports that identified Jilli as a major logistics and supply hub for insurgents, stressing that the strike targeted elements linked to both Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province.

“There was no innocent person there. Anybody in that location knew what they were doing. They were there for business with terrorists,” Musa said, defending the military airstrike in Jilli.

According to him, intelligence showed that the area had long functioned as an illegal trading point for terrorist logistics, where supplies such as food, fuel, and materials were exchanged to sustain insurgent operations against Nigerian security forces.

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He explained that the Jilli axis had already been classified as a high-risk zone due to repeated terrorist activity and was under surveillance before the operation was approved.

“We moved based on intelligence, we identified the location, and we hit the target. It was a deliberate operation,” he added.

Musa further stated that some individuals were drawn to the area by financial incentives, noting that goods sold there often fetch extremely high prices due to the risks involved.

“If you take a bag of rice there, you can sell it for as much as ₦150,000. People go there deliberately to make money, fully aware of who they are dealing with,” he said.

The Defence Chief maintained that under international laws of armed conflict and counterinsurgency rules of engagement, anyone knowingly supporting terrorist operations cannot be considered an innocent civilian.

“He who supports a terrorist is one of them,” he said, stressing that such support directly enables insurgent attacks against communities and security forces.

He, however, acknowledged the complexity of asymmetric warfare in Nigeria’s North-East, where insurgents often blend into civilian environments, making precision targeting essential.

The Defence Headquarters reiterated that the Operation Hadin Kai counterinsurgency campaign continues to focus on degrading terrorist infrastructure while minimising civilian harm, even as debates persist over the Jilli incident.

The military maintains that ongoing air and ground operations remain critical to restoring stability across affected parts of the North-East.

Jilli Airstrike: Defence Chief Says Killed Persons Were Terrorist Collaborators