Airstrike on Zamfara Market Leaves Dozens Dead, Conflicting Accounts on Casualties
By Victor Idajili
A military airstrike on Tumfa market in Zurmi Local Government Area reportedly killed scores of people on Sunday, though the exact number and identities of the victims remain disputed.
Residents and local officials say the market was hit by a Nigerian Air Force jet, with estimates of the death toll ranging up to 117. Those killed include both alleged bandits and civilians, according to people in the area. Many of the injured were taken to hospitals in Zurmi, Shinkafi, and Gusau for treatment.
The strike in Zurmi happened on the same day another air operation targeted Guradnayi in Shiroro LGA, Niger State, where locals say 13 civilians died.
Details of the Tumfa incident emerged slowly due to poor phone networks. The market and surrounding communities are said to be under the control of armed groups, with residents saying they have little choice but to coexist with them.
“Everybody goes to the market — residents and bandits,” said community leader Garba Ibrahim Mashema. “People are at the mercy of the bandits. There is nothing they can do.”
Aliyu Musa, a resident of Zurmi town about 7 km away, said many of those killed were traders and food vendors, including young girls selling food. “Tumfa market is under the control of bandits. It is their stronghold,” he said.
A relative of some victims, who asked not to be named, said a fighter jet conducted surveillance over the market before returning hours later to carry out the strike. He claimed several villages in the LGA, including Fakai, Mayasa, and Mashema, have no government presence, with bandits acting as judges and police.
The resident alleged that bandits recently imposed a N70 million levy on a community after one of their members was arrested in Nasarawa State while allegedly collecting ammunition. He also said armed groups routinely destroy crops by grazing cattle on farms.
Some residents defended the military action, saying the jet carried out surveillance before striking and that it targeted a market known as a bandit stronghold. One said a shop in the market allegedly sells arms and ammunition.
A local source said the strike killed an unspecified number of bandits, calling it a “major success,” while acknowledging that civilians also died.
The Defence Headquarters denied that civilians were killed. Spokesman Maj. Gen. Michael Onoja told AFP that reports of civilian deaths in Zamfara were “not true.”
Zurmi LGA has seen repeated attacks by armed groups, with residents and security personnel killed and many kidnapped. Similar concerns were raised in April 2019 when airstrikes on Dumburum village reportedly affected civilians, according to traditional rulers at the time.
Several injured victims are being treated at Yariman Bakura Specialist Hospital in Gusau and Zurmi General Hospital, while others are at the Federal Medical Centre, Gusau.
