A military airstrike on Saturday night has left dozens of people dead in Jilli axis, Borno State. The strike, which targeted a village market, occurred as Nigerian military jets were reportedly pursuing Islamist militants in the northeast.  

The incident took place in a border community between Yobe and Borno states, a region that remains the epicentre of a long-running insurgency.

While local sources and residents report a high civilian toll at a village market, the Nigerian military has maintained that the operation was a precision strike targeting a high-level terrorist logistics hub.

In an official statement released by the Nigerian Army regarding Operation HADIN KAI, the Air Component of Joint Task Force (North East) confirmed it conducted a precision strike on April 11, 2026.

According to the military, the target was an abandoned village near Jilli in Gubio Local Government Area, which had been identified as a major movement corridor for Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorists.

The military stated that the operation followed intensified intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions triggered by recent attacks on troops in the Bindul, Ngamdu, and Benisheik axes.

“Target fidelity was confirmed through multiple credible Human Intelligence sources, supported by persistent aerial surveillance. Upon final validation, the Air Component executed a series of precision strikes on the objectives,” the military said.

However, eyewitness accounts said the casualties were primarily civilians who were at the market when the bombardment began.

Lawan Zanna Nur Geidam, the councillor and the traditional head of Fuchimeram ward in Yobe’s Geidam district, provided a grim account of the aftermath. In a telephone interview with Reuters, he confirmed the scale of the carnage.

“It’s a very devastating incident at Jilli Market. As I’m speaking to you, over 200 people have lost their lives from the air strike at the market,” Geidam stated.

Residents confirmed the incident and the terror that hit the market square. Ahmed Ali, a 43-year-old vendor who sells medical consumables at the market, recounted his narrow escape from his hospital bed.

“I became so scared and attempted to run away, but a friend dragged me, and we all lay on the ground,”

Following the airstrike, the military reported the arrest of a suspected terrorist logistics courier, identified as “Turja Bulu,” in Ngamdu Town on April 12.

According to the statement, Bulu confessed to participating in recent attacks and revealed he had been dispatched from the Jilli axis to provide food items to other terrorist groups hibernating in the Magumeri-Gubio area.

However, the military’s official communication made no mention of a market being hit or civilian casualties.

The Yobe State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) has since activated its emergency response protocols following preliminary reports of the casualties.