Dozens of Nigerian fishermen are feared dead after the Chadian military conducted airstrikes on jihadist positions in Lake Chad, AFP reports.
Quoting a civilian militia member and an official of a Lake Chad fishermen’s union, the news agency said Chadian fighter jets bombarded two islands believed to be controlled by Boko Haram militants.
At least 40 Nigerian fishermen were reported missing and are feared drowned following the bombardment.
The exact death toll remains unclear, as military operations across the vast waterways and marshlands shared by Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger, and Chad were ongoing at the time of reporting.
A militia member reportedly said the Chadian military had been bombing islands on the Nigerian side of the lake since Friday following recent attacks on Chadian troops by Boko Haram fighters.
The source said there were “huge casualties” among fishermen operating in the area, many of whom reportedly pay taxes to Boko Haram to gain access to fishing zones.
“The bombing was concentrated on the jihadist stronghold of Shuwa Island, where Nigeria, Niger, and Chad meet on the lake,” the report reads.
“Many people were killed,” a fisherman from Baga in north-eastern Nigeria was quoted as saying.
AFP reported that most of the victims were believed to be from Doron Baga, a fishing community on the Nigerian shore of Lake Chad, as well as from Taraba State.
“It is not a secret that Nigerian fishermen pay tax to Boko Haram to gain access to the remote island with a huge fish reservoir,” one source said.
“Boko Haram ferries them on boats to those islands and brings them back with their catch.”
The Chadian military had not issued an official statement on the incident as of press time.
The development comes just days after Boko Haram launched two separate attacks on Chadian military positions near Lake Chad, reportedly killing at least 24 soldiers and two senior generals.
In October 2024, Chad’s military was similarly accused of killing dozens of Nigerian fishermen during airstrikes targeting Boko Haram fighters on Tilma Island in Lake Chad.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Is Anthony Odiong still a priest after life in prison sentence over rape?")
