By: News Peddlers
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| Taoreed Lagbaja, the Chief of Army Staff, and an unmanned drone |
The Nigerian Army admitted responsibility on Monday for a series of bombings that hit communities in Kaduna, killing scores of people as part of a long-running operation against armed bandits along the country's northern frontier.
Many inhabitants of Tundun Biri village in the Igabi Local Government Area were murdered and several more were injured in the air raids on Sunday night, which an army chief said was an error.
According to an army colonel participating in the aftermath containment efforts, at least 126 civilians were killed in the strike. The Nigerian Army has not released official fatality estimates, and the state government has been hesitant to openly demand accountability or blame the military for the catastrophe.
"The most recent information we got listed 126 bodies. "Our men are still searching all of the locations to possibly recover more," an army officer said, speaking on the record about the continuing inquiry into the incident.
Valentine Okoro, a major-general directing the Nigerian Army 1 Division headquarters in Kaduna, revealed during a meeting that the drone operators mistook the villagers for bandits who have terrorised the region, according to state government spokesman Samuel Aruwan.
At around 9:00 p.m. Sunday, those bombed had congregated for the Maulud festival, during which the army said terrorists were also suspected of crossing the border between Zamfara and Kaduna.
Mr Aruwan stated that the deputy governor, Hadiza Balarabe, presided over a meeting attended by heads of security agencies, religious and traditional leaders, and the Nigerian Army.
According to Mr. Aruwan, Mr. Okoro "explained that the Nigerian Army was on a routine mission against terrorists but inadvertently affected members of the community."
"The deputy governor, at the end of the closed-door meeting, conveyed the condolences of the government and people of Kaduna State to the families that lost their loved ones and prayed for the repose of the victims' souls," he said.
"As of the time of this update, search-and-rescue efforts are still ongoing, as dozens of injured victims have been evacuated to Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital by the government," he said.
According to the state commissioner, the meeting was attended by the police commissioner, Musa Yusuf Garba, and the state's State Security Service (SSS) director, Abdul Eneche.
"Professor Shafi'u Abdullahi, chairman of the Kaduna State chapter of Jam'atu Nasril Islam (JNI), led other religious leaders."
"Also present at the meeting was the District of Rigasa, Alhaji Aminu Idris, in whose domain the incident occurred," he stated.
The airstrikes were the first time the public was made aware of the army's use of unmanned aircraft outside of the Nigerian Air Force, which had long been connected with serial bombings of civilians, all of which were quickly blamed to operational errors. It was unclear how long the Nigerian Army had been operating drones without the knowledge of the Nigerian Air Force, which stated that no operations had taken place in the affected area in the previous 24 hours.
"The NAF has not carried out any air operations within Kaduna State and environs in the last 24 hours," Air Force spokesperson Edward Gabkwet told The Gazette in a statement.
"It should also be noted that the NAF is not the only organisation operating combat-armed drones in the North-Western United States."
"Also, note that the NAF is not the only organisation operating combat armed drones in the North-Western region of Nigeria."
Peoples Gazette reported in 2021 that a Nigerian Air Force Alpha jet mistakenly killed wedding guests during an aerial strike on armed bandits in Niger State. In January 2023, a similar bombing killed over 100 civilians.
Previously, the Nigerian Air Force murdered some Nigerian soldiers in an airstrike, mistaking them for rebels. In a video obtained by The Gazette, a soldier is seen reporting the event and requesting assistance.