A RESIDENT of Niger State, Victor Solomon, has cried out after allegedly losing three of his children in a military airstrike targeted at terrorists in Shiroro Local Government Area of the state on Sunday.
News Point Nigeria gathered that the military operation, which was said to have targeted terrorists in the area, allegedly killed several civilians, including Solomon’s children.
Several sources in the state who spoke with our correspondent confirmed that the strike also claimed the lives of more than a dozen civilians.
For the 50-year-old Solomon, a resident of Guradnayi village near Kusasu community in Galadima-Kogo District of Shiroro LGA, the experience remains deeply traumatic.
According to him, he was asleep around 5 a.m. on Sunday when the airstrike occurred, leaving him with severe facial injuries.
He also disclosed that three of his children died in the strike alongside several other victims.
“I don’t know if I can survive this. I lost three children in the strike and I sustained severe injuries to my face. I am in pain. We need help from the government,” he lamented while crying aloud.
Another resident, Gideon Bamaiyi, told Arewa PUNCH that the bandits had earlier moved through their usual route in the community before the airstrike occurred.
According to him, 13 persons, including seven children who had taken shelter in his elder brother’s house, were killed during the bombardment.
He added that six other victims were receiving treatment at a private hospital in Zumba, Shiroro Local Government Area.
Bamaiyi further disclosed that five of the injured victims, including a little girl, were still unconscious on their hospital beds.
Reacting to the incident, the Niger State Commissioner for Homeland Security, Maurice Magaji, confirmed to Arewa PUNCH on Sunday that the military carried out aerial bombardments of terrorist hideouts around Shiroro.
However, he insisted that the operation only targeted terrorists and their informants.
“It was a very successful military action on the terrorists. No civilian was killed. The only people killed were the terrorists and their informants in Shiroro,” Magaji stated.
“Before the military began, we warned the civilians to evacuate which they did. The only people left then were the terrorists and their informants, and the informants are also terrorists. Anybody that was there must have been informants,” he stressed.
Meanwhile, the Defence Headquarters also maintained that no civilian was killed during the airstrikes.
The Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Michael Onoja, said in a statement on Sunday that the operation followed intelligence reports indicating a convergence of armed bandits in Shiroro LGA on May 9, 2026.
According to Onoja, the strikes targeted terrorist enclaves and successfully neutralised about 70 armed bandits in Kusasu alone.
“In line with the AFN mandate to conduct operations to rout out all forms of insecurity in the country, on 9 May 2026, intelligence reports indicated the convergence of armed bandits at Lukupe Village in Shiroro LGA,” the statement read.
“Subsequently, on the 10 May 2026 between the hours of 11:59pm to 6am, the Nigerian Army UAV Command acting on intelligence conducted multiple air strikes on different bandits locations including Katerma, Bokko, Kusasu and Kuduru Villages all in Shiroro LGA of Niger State.
“Further reports from local sources confirmed that the aerial interdiction was precise on target at Kusasu, Katerma, and Bokko. See video footage. It was gathered that about 70 bandits were hit and killed in Kusasu,” the military maintained.