Jilli airstrike victims were insurgent collaborators, not civilians — Defence Minister

Minister of Defence General Christopher Musa has defended the military airstrike on Jilli in Borno State, insisting that those killed in the operation were not innocent civilians but individuals who knowingly provided logistics and supplies to insurgents.

Speaking in a television interview on Arise TV on Monday, following a high-level security meeting chaired by President Bola Tinubu, Musa said the strike was based on credible intelligence and targeted a known hub for terrorist logistics.

“There was no innocent person there. Anybody in that location knew what they were doing. They were there for business with terrorists,” he said.

The airstrike has drawn widespread criticism amid reports of civilian casualties, reigniting debate over Nigeria’s counterinsurgency tactics and the balance between military necessity and civilian protection. Musa, however, dismissed suggestions of operational error, insisting the military acted on verified intelligence.

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

According to the minister, the Jilli area had long been designated a no-go zone due to its sustained use by insurgents and their collaborators. He described the location as a marketplace where traders supplied food, fuel, and other materials to terrorist groups, and argued that the economic incentives were a major draw.

“If you take a bag of rice there, you can sell it for as much as N150,000. The attraction is huge. People go there deliberately to make money, fully aware of who they are dealing with,” he said.

Musa maintained that individuals who knowingly provide logistics or financial support to insurgents forfeit their civilian status under the laws of armed conflict.

“He who supports a terrorist is one of them. Your actions enable them to survive, to fight, and to kill others. That makes you part of the system,” he declared.

While acknowledging the complexity of distinguishing civilians from combatants in asymmetric warfare, the minister drew a clear distinction between those coerced into cooperation with insurgents and those who engage with them willingly for profit.

“There are people who are forced, who are victims themselves — that is different. But those who willingly go into these areas to trade with terrorists are not innocent. They made that choice,” he said.

Reports following the strike suggested that dozens of people may have been killed, prompting concern from rights groups and local communities. Musa questioned the credibility of those figures.

“Did anybody show pictures? Did anyone confirm those numbers?” he asked, casting doubt on casualty figures circulating in the media.

He also cited local authorities familiar with the area as supporting his position that Jilli was not a conventional civilian settlement, noting that it had previously been evacuated.

“Anybody who knows that area understands what it represents. It had been evacuated. So what were people doing there?” he queried.

Musa argued that severing the logistical support networks sustaining insurgents was critical to ending the conflict in the North-East, and warned that individuals who expose themselves by engaging with terrorist groups risk being caught in military operations.

“These logisticians are the ones sustaining them. Without them, the terrorists cannot operate. If Nigerians collectively refuse to support these groups, this war can end much faster,” he said.