- Title: Nigerians outraged after civilians killed in air strike targeting Boko Haram
- Date: 18th January 2017
- Summary: LAGOS, NIGERIA (JANUARY 18, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF STREET SCENE / TRAFFIC PEOPLE READING NEWSPAPERS AT STAND NEWSPAPER HEADLINES VARIOUS OF "DAILY SUN" HEADLINE READING (English): "52 KILLED AS MILITARY BOMBS IDPs CAMP" VARIOUS OF MAN HOLDING UP "THE PUNCH" NEWSPAPER WITH HEADLINE READING (English): "TRAGEDY AS NAF JET BOMBS BORNO IDP CAMP, KILLS 100" NEWSPAPER HEADLINE READING: TRAGEDY AS NAF JET BOMBS BORNO IDP CAMP KILLS 100" (SOUNDBITE) (English) LAGOS RESIDENT, CHINEDU IKECHUKWU, SAYING: "It's very very unfortunate that it happens this way, it's a regrettable event. I felt bad for them because these are Nigerians who came for refuge, who came to stay in IDP (internally displaced person) camp for safety, so this happening to them is very very unfortunate, so I am not happy about this. Our government should be able to protect us as an individual." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE TALKING AT NEWSPAPER STAND "THE GUARDIAN" NEWSPAPER HEADLINE READING (English): "FIGHTER JET KILLS CIVILIANS IN BORNO ANTI-TERROR RAID" (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNIDENTIFIED NIGERIAN BUSINESSMAN, SAYING: "They will keep saying it is a mistake. We are in a country that every morning we wake up and we keep hearing stories. They are not helping us and they are adding more to our problems. This country the way it is going now, people are not smiling, people are not smiling anymore, youths are angry. We would see what will happen in 2019." PEOPLE AND VEHICLES OUTSIDE BUILDING VARIOUS OF MEN TALKING
- Embargoed: 1st February 2017 08:28
- Keywords: Nigerian air force air strike IDP refugee camp civilian killing Boko Haram Borneo State
- Location: LAGOS, NIGERIA
- City: LAGOS, NIGERIA
- Country: Nigeria
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Insurgencies
- Reuters ID: LVA0015ZLXR2F
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:The killing of civilians by the Nigerian air force in an air strike targeting Boko Haram militants has triggered outrage and questions among residents in the West African country.
Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said on Tuesday (January 17) that at least 52 people were killed and 120 more were injured when a Nigerian air strike hit a refugee camp in the country's northeast, after the military earlier disclosed the strike was meant to target Boko Haram militants.
MSF said the strike occurred in Rann in Borno state, the epicentre of the jihadist group's seven-year-long bid to create an Islamic caliphate. Nigerian General Lucky Irabor, a regional military commander, located the incident at Kala Balge, a district that includes Rann.
The air strike came amid an offensive against Islamist militant group Boko Haram by Nigeria's military over the last few weeks. President Muhammadu Buhari said last month a key camp in the jihadist group's Sambisa forest base in Borno state had fallen.
On Wednesday (January 18) Nigerians expressed disbelief and outrage over the air strike.
"It's very very unfortunate that it happens this way, it's a regrettable event. I felt bad for them because these are Nigerians who came for refuge, who came to stay in IDP (internally displaced person) camp for safety, so this happening to them is very very unfortunate, so I am not happy about this. Our government should be able to protect us as an individual," said Chinedu Ikechukwu, a Lagos resident.
"They will keep saying it is a mistake. We are in a country that every morning we wake up and we keep hearing stories. They are not helping us and they are adding more to our problems. This country the way it is going now, people are not smiling, people are not smiling anymore," said an unidentified businessman based in Lagos.
A statement issued by the presidency said the air strike was a "regrettable operational mistake" that happened during the "final phase of mopping up insurgents in the northeast". - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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