Article Link: https://apnews.com/article/nigeria-airstikes-civilians-9f97fb91d5d58ed09e93d78cff399b20
For the second time this year, Nigeria’s military has killed more civilians through airstrikes by their own military. The Nigerian government has not said how many people have died. Amnesty international, a human rights group has said at least 10 people have died as a result of the airstrikes. The airstrikes were a result of rebel groups attacking a police division that killed many civilians in the northwest part of Nigeria. Over the past years Nigeria has killed many of it’s own civilians as they mistake them for rebel forces. Nigeria’s north west region is a very unstable part of it’s country as extremists and rebel groups have been fighting over the region.
The airstrikes are super important as many human rights groups are calling out for the negligence from the Nigerian government. They have killed hundreds of civilians over the years as they have mistaken them for rebel groups. The rebel groups have created an unstable region and it continues to get more unstable. People that live in the region may flee to other areas creating a migration crisis as they are seeking safety. Amnesty international has called for the Nigerian government to come up with an independent investigation to prevent further killings of its own people. The widespread impact of migration to other countries will also cause issues in those nations.
The Nigerian government can be more cautious with how they use the airstrikes and be sure that they are rebel groups before they attack. This would prevent the civilians from dying and prevent other major issues from arising. The least likely would be for the extremists and rebel groups to stop attacking as they won’t stop due to the need for land and to break away from the Nigerian government. Nigeria being in a shatter belt is creating the instability as there are many groups that want to compete for land and their own nation. It’s up to the leaders of the rebel groups and the Nigerian president to stop these attacks from happening. The United States has the power to step in to suppress the violence that’s going on but it’s looking very unlikely that we will as it’s more of an internal issue of the Nigerian government. The United States will most likely take an approach that doesn’t involve us and rather let the government figure it out as they are capable of stopping the rebel groups. The issue of killing it’s own people through airstrikes is an internal military issue.