Seven children were killed and five wounded in an airstrike by the Nigerian military on 18 February in the village of Nachade in the region of Maradi, Niger Republic, close to the Nigerian border. As per the report of Medicine Sans Frontieres, the investigation of the incident is under investigation by Nigeria’s military.
The governor added the parents were attending a ceremony while children were probably playing when they were hit by a strike where four of the children died, and three died while transported to the hospital.
Nigeria’s director of defence information, Major General Jimmy Akpor, said the Nigerian AirForce does not attack into areas outside of Nigerian boundaries. The strike was not apparent, but in this region, banditry is widespread.
Chaibou Aboubacar, the governor of Maradi, highlighted Airstrike in the village of Nachadewas as the result of a mistake with the Nigerian strikes on the border.
The Niger Republic will focus attention again on the human costs of Abuja’s security strategy.
Regarding the investigation, Nigerian Military said, questions may also be raised on the US for albeit inconsistently arms supplies to Abuja.
With the Super Tucano aircraft sales of the US, the arrival of Russia’s Wanger Group into the area and China’s sale of mobile artillery and Bigfoot MRAPs, they continue Military sophistication between Nigeria and the Sahel.
In 2015, under then-president Barack Obama, the sale of Super Tucano aircraft was put on hold after accidentally bombed a Rann’s refugee camp. The camp was close to the Cameroonian border.
President Donald Trump lifted the suspension of Super Tucano aircraft, but on human rights grounds, they put a hold on selling second-hand Super Cobra attack helicopters to Nigeria.
Along with this, these kinds of setbacks have encouraged Nigerian officials to make their military suppliers range to be more wider.
The African states such as Ethiopia, Sudan, Egypt and Somalia became the big market for arms suppliers like Russia, Turkey, and the Gulf states. But China made its significant inroads in Africa’s market and became the fastest-growing arm supplier to Africa’s continental.
In the recent past year, China supplied battle tanks and armoured personnel carriers to Africa. China also provides troops, engineers, and other technical professionals to UN peacekeeping missions across the continent. The significant arm supply to Africa shows the important role of China in Africa’s security.
