Let me admit it, my headline does appear similar to the title of the Kenyan writer, the late Ngugi Wa Thiong’o’s second novel The River Between. But it’s no parody of the book’s theme, which is about conflict between two neighbouring Kenyan communities, separated by a river, just before European colonialism sets in. Neither is it a parody of the author’s style, which is PaCE [pacey, conversational and engaging]. My subject matter, on the other hand, is the ordinary people [civilians], who often get caught up in the war between terrorists and our [the] military.
One such unexpected [or unintended] involvement with the military took place Saturday, April 11 at Jilli market between Borno and Yobe States. According to Reuters, a military fighter jet bombed the market on a full business day, suspecting the traders to be terrorists. The news agency reported close to 200 people may have been killed. Lt Col Sani Uba, the spokesman for the Joint Task Force (North East) Operation Hadin Kai, said Sunday in Maiduguri “the airstrike successfully hit a major Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) logistics hub.” He said the operation was conducted on Saturday “following a sustained Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) mission over the Bindul–Jilli axis.” According to him, “Bindul-Jilli is a major terrorist movement corridor and convergence point for insurgents and their collaborators.
“On 11 April 2026, multiple reports were received of ISWAP gun trucks and motorcycles moving along the axis. Consequently, ISR coverage was intensified. During the surveillance mission, a contingent of motorcycles was observed moving in the direction of Jilli, followed shortly by additional vehicles, all converging on the same location.” Uba said the movements were corroborated by “credible human intelligence sources, confirming that the converging elements were terrorists, collaborators and logistics handlers.” The officer said ” after rigorous target validation, the Air Component executed a series of precision strikes on the enclave, achieving high accuracy.” According to him, “post-strike assessment confirmed that the target area was struck with high accuracy.”
Uba’s script reads too smoothly, is too flowery, giving the impression that it had been prepared well before the strike. It doesn’t matter now. Babagana Zulum, the governor of Borno State, to whom I gave the unofficial title chief mourner in this column last week, has said he welcomed the air strike. His office gave out a statement a day after that said the Borno government shut down the market five years ago because it was discovered to be a “notorious hub used by insurgents and their logistics suppliers.” The governor said, “I have been properly briefed on the airstrike carried out by the Air Component of Operation Hadin Kai on Jilli market, a border town between Borno and Yobe states. Let me state categorically that the Borno State Government closed Jilli and Gazabure markets five years ago,” adding, “I am in close consultation with the Government of Yobe State and the military hierarchy on the matter.” This one, an entirely different tone the governor adopted from his angry posture after the Benisheikh killing of an army brigade commander and some of his troops. Then he had said the terror attack shouldn’t have happened if the right authorities had acted promptly and correctly on intelligence received three days preciously. So, what had happened differently this time? We aren’t told. He didn’t say either when the closed market was reopened by persons he called terrorists, was it the day of the air strike? As for the military that seemed euphoric about its supposed big gain, it said terrorists were ” neutralized” in the counter strike but how many. Reuters gave a specific number of civilian fatalities, confirmed by pictures of bodies being prepared for a mass burial.
I’m troubled by another thing. Why is it that the bombing of civilians almost always happens each time our military gets a bloodied nose from the enemy? It had happened many times before. Remember the bombs dropped on unwary civilians in a village in Kaduna State in 2024 in the name of pursuing fleeing terrorists. The army admitted the bombing had been a mistake and promised to investigate the matter. It also said whatever the inquiry came up with would be made public. End of story. Few years before that, at the heart of the Boko Haram insurgency, a Nigerian Air Force fighter plane reportedly strafed a community in Borno State, killing hundreds in response to a terror attack on a military facility. Initially, the strike was denied, but when confronted with the facts, NAF said it would probe the killings. Nothing. All of this points to one disturbing thing: a despairing military desperate for a ‘success story’ to give to an equally despairing Nigerian public. This isn’t a narrative the military wants to hear. But it must be told if the picture must change for the better.
For the story to be sweeter, I suggest the Burkina Faso experience. It looks extraordinarily simple, the way it has been presented. But the result has been awesomely wonderful. The country had been plagued with a crippling Islamic Jihadist insurgency for years until the coup of 2023 that brought army captain Ibrahim Traore to power. The rebellion was one of the reasons for the takeover. The new government spurned the West, especially France, Burkina Faso’s former colonial master, and turned to Russia for help. The latter responded without asking tough
questions. Loads of armaments including HITECH drones were delivered to Ouagadougou. The counter insurgency campaign now becomes more technology focused. An operating control headquarters is set up in the capital to which intelligence about the enemy’s bases and movements is fed. Drones are then sent after the jihadists, who until now had had the army on the run. But today the table has been turned. It’s the enemy that is running from bombs drones are dropping from the sky, not from gun carrying government troops. Two big advantages gained: the momentum of the war has shifted heavily in favour of the government and no soldiers are needed on the ground. I believe Nigeria should go for this, even blindfolded.
