By Reportcircle News
By the time the Nigerian Air Force delegation arrived in Sokoto, the message was already clear: this was not a routine condolence visit, but a reckoning.
In a solemn ceremony heavy with symbolism and accountability, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) on Monday handed over compensation to families affected by the accidental airstrike that struck Gidan Bisa and Rumtuwa villages in Silame Local Government Area on Christmas Day 2024.
Thirteen civilians lost their lives; eight others were injured. For the Air Force, the exercise marked a public acknowledgement of error and a recalibration of how it wages war.
Representing the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sunday Kelvin Aneke, the Chief of Civil-Military Relations, Air Vice Marshal Edward Gabkwet, said the compensation was both an act of remorse and a statement of institutional responsibility.
The Air Force, he stressed, exists to protect Nigerians, not endanger them.
Gabkwet used the occasion to praise Sokoto State Governor Ahmed Aliyu for what he described as a “model partnership” between the military and sub-national authorities.
He singled out the governor’s 9-Point Smart Agenda and the creation of the Sokoto State Community Guards Corps, noting that locally driven security initiatives had helped plug intelligence gaps and blunt the reach of terrorists and bandits in parts of the state.
Governor Aliyu, in response, struck a conciliatory tone.
He thanked the Air Force for what he called its “rare display of empathy and responsibility,” saying the gesture would help heal wounds in affected communities while strengthening trust between civilians and the military.
Behind the ceremony, however, lay a more sobering account.
The Air Force explained that the December 25 strike was conducted under Operation Fasan Yamma, following intelligence that armed terrorists were moving through the area.
Multiple intelligence layers were reportedly checked before the mission.
But a petition submitted months later, in April 2025, triggered a fact-finding investigation that reached an uncomfortable conclusion: civilians had indeed been caught in the strike.
“The findings deeply saddened the Service,” Air Marshal Aneke said through his representative, adding that the outcome demanded “urgent steps to make amends.”
Since assuming office, the CAS has placed Civilian Harm Mitigation at the core of his command philosophy.
The compensation, he said, was not merely financial, it was about transparency, accountability and restoring confidence. It was also about learning.
Central to that learning is the Nigerian Air Force Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response Action Plan (NAF CHMR-AP), a framework designed to tighten operational planning, improve damage assessments, institutionalized lessons learned and ensure prompt responses when civilians are harmed.
Notably, the plan applies beyond airstrikes, extending to non-kinetic operations and post-conflict recovery of civilian environments.
Yet the Air Force was careful to draw a hard line.
While pledging greater precision and restraint, it reaffirmed its resolve to apply decisive force against terrorists, bandits and kidnappers.
Citizens, it warned, must also play their part.
“Mingling or cohabiting with terrorists and bandits significantly increases the risk of collateral damage,” the Air Force said, urging communities to cooperate with security agencies as operations intensify across the North-West.
For Sokoto, the compensation cheques may not erase the pain of December 25.
But in a conflict where civilian trust is as strategic as firepower, the Air Force’s move signals a shift: from silence after tragedy to engagement, admission and reform.
In a war defined by shadows and suspicion, that may be one of the hardest and most necessary battles to fight.
