By Adesakin Adefemi
Sunday Dare, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Communications, has accused former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of playing politics with the recent airstrike on Jilli Market in Borno State.
In a statement titled “ATIKU: QUESTIONABLE PATRIOT” posted on his X handle @sundaydareSD, Dare questioned the former vice president’s patriotism. He described Atiku’s position on the military operation as disappointing and telling.
“At a time when our Armed Forces are taking the fight directly to terrorist enclaves, it is both disappointing and telling to see Atiku Abubakar politicise the recent airstrikes at Jilli Market by alleging that the government is targeting civilians,” Dare said.
He recalled that the Nigerian Air Force carried out targeted, intelligence-led airstrikes on insurgent positions within and around the Jilli axis over the weekend. Dare said the location, though still geographically identifiable as Jilli Market, had for years been overtaken and repurposed as a logistics and trading hub for terrorist elements, including Boko Haram and ISWAP.
“Let it be clear: while the location may still be referred to as ‘Jilli Market’, it has not functioned as a legitimate civilian marketplace in any meaningful sense,” he stated. According to him, multiple credible accounts indicate it had evolved into an operational node within the insurgency’s supply chain, facilitating movement, coordination, and sustenance of violent actors.
Dare said framing a legitimate military action as an attack on civilians is misleading and reckless. He argued that such remarks risk distorting public understanding and undermining the morale of troops on the frontlines who are daily risking their lives to secure the country.
He pointed to what he called a contradiction in Atiku’s stance. “He consistently criticises the government for failing to curb insecurity, yet when decisive, intelligence-driven action is taken, he is quick to condemn it. That is not principled opposition, it is opportunism,” Dare said.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum also confirmed that the weekly Jilli market in Gubio Local Government Area was closed five years ago. In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Dauda Iliya, Zulum described Jilli Market as a notorious hub used by insurgents and their logistics suppliers.
Zulum said he was properly briefed on the airstrike carried out by the Air Component of Operation Hadin Kai on Jilli market, a border town between Borno and Yobe states. He added that he is in close consultation with the Government of Yobe State and the military hierarchy on the matter.
Defence Minister Christopher Musa has also reacted to the airstrikes, describing the operation as part of a new strategy. “A friend of a thief is a thief. Anybody who is doing any trading or providing any support to them, we will find you together, and we will deal with you like bandits, like terrorists,” the minister said.
