The Nigerian Army troops of Operation Hadin Kai have justified their decision to strike a suspected terrorist location in Jilli Village, Gubio Local Government Area of Borno State.
No fewer than 30 people were feared killed after a military airstrike hit a weekly market at Jilli village, located along the border between Borno State and Yobe State, on Saturday evening.
The incident, which occurred at the popular Jilli Market between the Gubio and Geidam areas, reportedly left traders and residents in a state of panic as explosions rocked the busy trading centre.
The strikes, executed on April 11, 2026, were conducted by the Air Component of Operation HADIN KAI in coordination with the Nigerian Army, following an earlier operation that targeted and destroyed terrorist positions in the area.
However, in a statement on Sunday, the Media Information Officer, Northeast Joint Task Force, Operation Hadin Kai, Lt. Col. Sanni Uba, said the location was a known terrorist enclave and logistics hub long identified as a major movement corridor and convergence point for Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorists and their collaborators.
“The Air Component of Joint Task Force (North East) Operation HADIN KAI (OPHK), in a carefully, well-coordinated, planned, and intelligence-driven operation, has successfully conducted a precision air strike on a known terrorist enclave and logistics hub located near the abandoned village of Jilli in Gubio Local Government Area of Borno State. The successful strike, executed on 11 April, 2026, followed sustained Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions over the Bindul–Jilli axis, an area long identified as a major terrorist movement corridor and convergence point for Islamic State West Africa Province terrorists and their collaborators,” he said.