Troops of the Joint Task Force (North East), under Operation Hadin Kai, have arrested a 15-year-old boy over his alleged involvement in a deadly attack on a military base in Borno State that claimed the lives of a senior officer and two soldiers.
The suspect, identified as Tijjani, was apprehended on Sunday in Ngamdu while reportedly on an errand to purchase food for members of his group.
In a video confession circulated by the military, the teenager said he participated in coordinated attacks on Benisheik and Ngamdu last Thursday.
Recall that the assault resulted in the death of Oseni Braimah, Commander of the 29 Task Force Brigade, alongside two other soldiers, after suspected Boko Haram fighters struck the base.
Speaking in Hausa, Tijjani said the attackers moved from Jilli and returned there after the operation.
He claimed he was sent out with N850,000 to procure logistics when he was intercepted by troops.
The suspect added that he had left other fighters behind in Jilli and did not know their fate.
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Meanwhile, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has condemned a recent Nigerian Air Force airstrike on Jilli Market along the Borno–Yobe axis, which reportedly killed more than 200 civilians, mostly traders, and injured many others.
In a statement, the group described the incident as part of a troubling pattern of fatal air operations that have resulted in civilian casualties across Nigeria over the past decade.
It cited previous strikes in Borno, Adamawa, Zamfara, Niger, Nasarawa, Sokoto and Kaduna states, including the December 2023 drone strike on a religious gathering in Tudun Biri, Kaduna State, which killed scores of civilians.
HURIWA said the repeated incidents point to deep-seated failures in intelligence gathering, target verification, operational discipline and accountability within military operations.
Its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, said such incidents could no longer be dismissed as accidents, warning that frequent and predictable errors amounted to institutional negligence and grave violations of the right to life.
He called for an independent investigation into the Jilli strike and urged the Federal Government to establish a civilian-led panel, involving the National Human Rights Commission and civil society groups, to probe the incident and publish its findings.
The association also demanded N200 billion in compensation for victims’ families, medical care and rehabilitation for survivors, and a formal apology from the military, alongside a review of its rules of engagement.
HURIWA warned that failure to address the recurring incidents would continue to erode public trust and leave civilians exposed to further risk, insisting that Nigerian lives must never be reduced to statistics or collateral damage.