Kaduna Bombing Regrettable’, Army Chief Profusely Apologises
…Kaduna Bombing: ‘Terrorists Embedded With Civilians’ — DHQ Breaks Silence
…NEF Member Demands Resignation Of Army Top Brass
The Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja, on Tuesday, described the deadly airstrike that killed 85 people and injured several others in Kaduna State as regrettable.
The army chief, who visited the site of the mishap that has thrown the nation into a sorrowful mood, apologised on behalf of the Nigerian Army to the community, the government, and the people of Kaduna State.
Lagbaja, who visited the victims two days after the accidental strike in the Igabi area of the North-West state, promised to guard against such an occurrence in the conduct of military operations.
“My assessment of that unfortunate incident of Sunday, December 3, 2023, is that it is grave, regrettable. We will do everything possible to prevent such an occurrence from happening again in the conduct of our operations going forward,” he said about one of the country’s deadliest military bombing accidents.
The army chief was accompanied by principal staff officers from the army headquarters and the General Officer Commanding 1 Division and also met with the Dangaladima Zazau, the District Head of Rigasa, Architect Aminu Idris, other leaders, and members of the community.
Eighty-five were killed in an air strike by the Nigerian Army at Tudun Biri village in the Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State, in one of the country’s deadliest military bombing accidents.
The North-West zonal spokesman of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Halima Suleiman, told Channels Television that 66 other victims were also injured in Sunday’s bombing.
She said the fatality figure was gotten from the local authorities after the burial of the victims on Monday.
Initial Confusion
Confusion had trailed Sunday’s accidental air strike with the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) saying it was not responsible for the bombing.
Hours later, the Kaduna State Government said the Army had taken responsibility for the accidental mistake.
Nigeria’s armed forces often rely on air strikes in their battle against so-called bandit militias in the North-West and North-East of the country, where jihadists have been fighting for more than a decade.
However, such air strikes have not been without controversies and accidental bombings and alleged miscalculations, with innocent Nigerians, including soldiers as casualties.
Earlier in 2023, NAF took responsibility over a fatal airstrike on Kwatiri, a Nasarawa village. At least 39 persons were killed and six others injured in the airstrike that occurred on 24 January.
In 2021, about 20 soldiers on ground were allegedly slain in Mainok, Borno State, when a NAF fighter jet responding to attacks on a military camp by Boko Haram insurgents bombed the military camp based on a wrong coordinate.
Tinubu Orders Probe
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Tuesday ordered an investigation after the army acknowledged one of its drones accidentally struck Tudun Biri village as residents were celebrating a Muslim festival.
“President Tinubu describes the incident as very unfortunate, disturbing, and painful, expressing indignation and grief over the tragic loss of Nigerian lives,” the presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale said in a statement.
Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State also ordered a full investigation into Sunday’s incident, reassuring the citizens that their security and protection will be prioritised in the sustained fight against terrorists, bandits, and other criminal elements.
While directing the immediate evacuation of the injured to the Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital for emergency medical attention, the governor disclosed that The Kaduna State Government will be responsible for their treatment and related logistics.
He, however, appealed to the affected community and all citizens of the state to be calm and continue to support the security forces and the state government in the battle against terrorists, bandits, kidnappers, and other criminal elements in the state.
Kaduna Bombing: NEF Member Demands Resignation Of Army Top Brass
In the same vein, a public affairs analyst and member of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Prof Usman Yusuf, has called for the resignation of military top brass over an accidental bombing that killed 85 villagers and injured several others at Tudun Biri village in the Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State on Sunday.
“This is irresponsible,” he said on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Tuesday, lamenting that the military which ought to protect Nigerians against external threats was killing the people.
Yusuf said in other climes, all military chiefs would have tendered their resignation letters over the accident which has thrown the country into mourning.
“They will all resign; everybody in the chain of command will be fired. The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), everybody will go and the President will cut his trip and return home,” he said.
President Bola Tinubu had appointed new set of service chiefs in June, about three weeks after being in the saddle as the Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces.
Stressing his earlier point, the analyst asserted that “All of them should go – the CDS, the Chief of Army Staff, the GOC, the operatives, heads must roll.”
Both the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Christopher Musa and the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja visited deceased victims’ families and injured ones in hospitals in Kaduna on Tuesday.
‘Army Can’t Probe Self’
The two service chiefs described the accident as regrettable and apologised to the people of the state, promising them that such accident airstrike won’t recur.
The President also commiserated with people of the state while demanding an investigation into the accident.
However, Yusuf said, “The Army cannot investigate itself; there should be a high-powered, independent committee headed by a retired CJN (Chief Justice of Nigeria) and in there, there should be a service chief.”
He said foreign countries would be hesitant about selling arms to the Nigerian military “when they are dropping it on our people”.
Confusion had trailed Sunday’s accidental air strike with the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) saying it was not responsible for the bombing.
The Kaduna State Government thereafter said the Army had taken responsibility for the accidental mistake. The Army on Tuesday took responsibility over the accident, saying terrorists sometime embed themselves amongst civilians.
A Trend Of Miscalculations?
Nigeria’s armed forces often rely on airstrikes in their battle against so-called bandits and terrorists. However, such air strikes have not been without controversies, accidental bombings and alleged miscalculations, with innocent Nigerians, including soldiers as casualties.
Earlier in 2023, NAF took responsibility over a fatal airstrike on Kwatiri, a Nasarawa village. At least 39 persons were killed and six others injured in the airstrike that occurred on 24 January.
In 2021, about 20 soldiers on ground were allegedly slain in Mainok, Borno State, when a NAF fighter jet responding to attacks on a military camp by Boko Haram insurgents bombed the military camp based on a wrong coordinate.
