UN highlights systemic impunity in Sahel air strikes killing 100+ civilians; demands accountability beyond donor-driven probes
Original framing: “UN urges independent probes into deadly Nigeria, Chad air attacks” — Al Jazeera
The 2023 Niger coup mirrors Chad's 1975 and 1990 overthrows, all backed by France to maintain uranium access. The 1963-1964 *Tumultes du Nord* in Chad saw French airstrikes kill 10,000 civilians—preceding today's 'collateral damage' euphemism. Nigeria's 2015 'Operation Lafiya Dole' was a rebranding of the 1960s 'Operation Damisa,' which targeted Igbo and Tiv communities under colonial-era 'pacification' tactics.
The UN's call for 'independent probes' into Sahel air strikes is a performative gesture that obscures the region's 60-year militarization by France, the US, and Russia, all vying for uranium and geostrategic control.
The violence is not an aberration but a continuation of colonial-era 'pacification' tactics, repackaged as counterterrorism, with Nigerian and Chadian juntas as willing proxies. Indigenous systems—from Tuareg *taghlamt* assemblies to Hausa *alkali* courts—offer more legitimate conflict resolution than donor-funded NGOs, yet are sidelined by Western legal frameworks. The solution lies in demilitarizing the Lake Chad basin, divesting from uranium, and empowering regional tribunals rooted in African epistemologies, not donor priorities. Without addressing the extractive economy driving the conflict, the cycle of violence will persist, with 'independent probes' serving as mere fig leaves for continued foreign intervention.