No Innocent Person Was There” – Nigerian Minister Christopher Musa Defends Airstrikes On Jilli Market Borno

Speaking during an appearance on Arise TV following a high-level security meeting chaired by Bola Tinubu, Musa rejected widespread claims that civilians were among those killed.

Nigeria’s counterinsurgency strategy came under renewed scrutiny as the Minister of Defence, Christopher Musa, firmly defended the recent airstrike on Jilli in Borno State, framing the operation not as a tragic misfire but as a calculated disruption of insurgent logistics.

Speaking during an appearance on Arise TV following a high-level security meeting chaired by Bola Tinubu, Musa rejected widespread claims that civilians were among those killed.

Instead, he argued that the location had evolved into a critical support hub for terrorist groups.

“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 strike has drawn criticism amid circulating reports of civilian casualties, but Musa maintained that the operation was intelligence-driven and precisely executed.

According to him, the military acted on verified data identifying Jilli as a meeting point for insurgents and their collaborators.

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

Positioning the strike within a broader effort to dismantle the economic lifelines of insurgent groups, Musa described the area as far removed from a typical civilian environment.

He stressed that Jilli had long been classified as a restricted zone due to its strategic importance to terrorist operations.

“That place is not a normal civilian market,” Musa stated. “It is a point where terrorists meet with those who support them—people who bring in supplies, including items used to sustain their operations.” he said.

He further argued that profit motives have continued to draw individuals into the conflict economy, despite the risks involved.

“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.

In a strongly worded stance, the Defence Minister equated logistical support with active participation in terrorism.

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

While acknowledging the complexities of distinguishing civilians from combatants in asymmetric warfare, Musa insisted that the military remains deliberate in its targeting and differentiates between those coerced into cooperation and those acting voluntarily.

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

He also questioned the credibility of casualty figures being reported, suggesting a lack of verification.

“Did anybody show pictures? Did anyone confirm those numbers?” he asked.

Citing feedback from local authorities familiar with the region, Musa reiterated that Jilli was not a conventional civilian settlement and had effectively been abandoned for regular habitation.

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

Emphasizing the strategic importance of cutting off supply chains, he warned that insurgent groups rely heavily on civilian collaborators for survival.

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

He concluded with a cautionary note, warning that individuals who choose to engage with insurgents risk being caught in military operations.

“If you make yourself available in that environment, you become part of the threat landscape,” he said.

Earlier, Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum, said the Jilli market in Gubio Local Government Area—where a recent military airstrike reportedly killed dozens of civilians—was a notorious hub for bandits and insurgent logistics, insisting the facility had been officially shut down five years ago.

In a statement issued on Sunday by his Special Adviser on Media, Dauda Iliya, the governor described Jilli market as a location long associated with insurgent activity, even as controversy trails reports of civilian casualties from the strike.

“I have been properly briefed on the airstrike carried out by the Air Component of Operation Hadin Kai on Jilli market, a border town between Borno and Yobe states. Let me state categorically that the Borno State Government closed Jilli and Gazabure markets five years ago,” the Governor said.