A RIGHTS group on Monday called for an investigation into a “reckless” attack by the Nigerian military that killed at least 20 people.

Amnesty International condemned the attack over the weekend in Zamfara state in north-west Nigeria, one of the regions worst affected by violence from armed groups, commonly referred to as “bandits.”

Nigerian Air Commodore Ehimen Ejodame said it carried out the attack after receiving intelligence that “a significant number of terrorists were massing and preparing to strike unsuspecting settlements.”

He said: “Further intelligence confirmed that the bandits had killed some farmers and abducted a number of civilians, including women and children.”

Commodore Ejodame said that two local vigilantes were killed and two others injured in the crossfire.

But local residents said that a group of local vigilantes pursuing a gang was mistakenly bombed by a Nigerian military jet.

The air force had been called in by villagers who had suffered an attack earlier in the weekend. Locals said that an unknown number of people were also wounded in the strike.

Buhari Dangulbi, a resident of the affected area, said: “Dozens of our people and several cows were taken by bandits and those who trailed the bandits to rescue them were attacked by a fighter jet. It killed 20 of them.”

But Amnesty International condemned the strike and urged a full investigation.

The rights group said: “Attacks by bandits clearly warrant a response from the state, but to launch reckless air strikes into villages — again and again — is absolutely unlawful.”

In January, at least 16 vigilantes were killed in a similar strike in Zamfara’s Zurmi district.

In December 2022, more than 100 civilians were killed in Mutunji village while pursuing bandits. A year later, an attack on a religious gathering in Kaduna state killed at least 85 people.