Dousing Tension over Army’s Drone Strike

The urgency to deal a severe blow to terrorists and maintain the recent victories against bandits in Kaduna State led to a tragic incident where Nigerian Army troops mistakenly targeted and killed innocent villagers in a drone attack. Misinterpreting the villagers’ activities, the soldiers wrongly associated them with the patterns of bandits. As Nigerians mourn this unfortunate incident, Ejiofor Alike writes on the need to exercise restraint

What would have been a celebration of another major victory against bandits in Kaduna State last Sunday turned out to be a sad moment, not only for the Nigerian Army but for all Nigerians following a miscalculated drone attack on Tudun Biri community in Igabi Local Government Area of the state by the troops of the Nigerian Army.

In his reaction, President Bola Tinubu directed a thorough investigation into the incident while calling for calm. 

Also reacting, the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, in a series of tweets on his X handle on Tuesday, expressed grief over the death of dozens of persons and called on the Nigerian military to exercise utmost caution and professionalism to avoid a recurrence.

On his part, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar also expressed condolences to the victims of the Army’s drone attack.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have also called on the Nigerian authorities to promptly investigate the incident.

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)  has equally tasked the federal government to investigate the bombing.

In a show of empathy and demonstration of responsible leadership, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja, promptly paid a condolence visit to the Tudun Biri community where he commiserated with the victims and apologised for the unfortunate incident.

According to a statement issued on Tuesday, the Director of Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu, said the Army Chief was accompanied by Principal Staff Officers from the Army Headquarters and the General Officer Commanding 1 Division, where he met with the Dangaladima Zazau, Aminu Idris, District Head of Rigasa, other leaders and members of the community.

The statement added that the COAS in an emotion-laden speech, expressed regrets on the unfortunate mishap, describing it as a very disheartening occurrence.

Gen Lagbaja noted that in the recent past, the general area of Tudun Biri and adjoining villages were infested with armed bandits, who terrorised the communities until troops of the Nigerian Army started conducting operations to sanitise the area and make it habitable.

He pointed out that the troops were carrying out aerial patrols when they observed a group of people and wrongly analysed and misinterpreted their pattern of activities to be similar to that of the bandits, before the drone strike.

The COAS disclosed that he has ordered a thorough inquiry into the incident to ascertain and identify areas of deficiency that led to the inadvertent disaster.

He added that the findings and overarching outcome of the investigation would guide the Nigerian Army in meticulously and professionally seeking and applying lasting solutions to identified lapses and deficiencies in both the human and Artificial Intelligence variables that will forestall future recurrence.

The District Head of Rigasa, Idris said despite the enormity of the incident, the Nigerian Army showed integrity in accepting responsibility for the drone strike and urged its leadership to intervene in bringing succour to hospitalised victims and the community for their losses.

He also dismissed religious motive in the attack, stressing that the affected area is a mixed community of both Muslims and Christians, adding also that the victims are of both faiths, contrary to earlier insinuation that the community is solely Muslim.

General Lagbaja also commiserated with the Chairman Jamaa’ atu Nasru Islam, Kaduna State, Prof

Shafiu Abdullahi and other clerics.

He equally visited affected victims at the Barua Dikko Teaching Hospital Anguwan Rimi, Kaduna and made an immediate donation of several provisions for their upkeep.

In a similar vein, the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) on Tuesday explained that air surveillance presumed that terrorists, who were in the habit of using civilians as shields, were operating at the time.

The DHQ regretted the civilian casualties and stressed that it always did its best to distinguish between civilians and terrorists. It said the suspicious movement of the allegedly celebrating crowd in an area notorious for terrorist activities had prompted the drone attack.

Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Christopher Musa, on Tuesday night, also apologised for the bombing of civilians, explaining that the army acted on intelligence, but missed, describing the incident as highly regrettable.

Speaking on ARISE Television, the defence chief promised that the military would fine-tune its operations and ensure that such incidents do not reoccur.

The CDS explained that the pattern of movement of the civilians, who were affected, looked almost like that of the terrorists, who had been operating heavily around the area.

Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Northern Elders Forum (NEF), and Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI) called for a thorough investigation into the accidental bombing.

Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, said the accidental killing would not stop the fight against insurgency and terrorism.

While the public outrage is justifiable, given the loss of innocent lives, there is a need for caution so as not to dampen the morale of the gallant members of the armed forces who abandon their families and loved ones, and stake their lives in very difficult terrain and under very difficult circumstances to fight terrorists.

Having witnessed the fall of their colleagues in the hands of terrorists, soldiers fighting bandits are always eager to strike at the enemy with the speed of light.

Their unquenchable desire to take on the enemies unaware might have accounted for the miscalculated analysis that regrettably claimed civilian casualties.

While there is the need to  sustain the enormous successes it recorded in the past few months in Kaduna and other North-west states, the Nigerian Army should show maximum restraint and avoid actions that could harm and incense those it seeks to protect.

From the reactions of the military authorities, the troops acted in good faith and had intended to protect those they eventually killed.

As Nigerians mourn this unfortunate incident, the federal government and states across the six geopolitical zones should mobilise funds and ensure that the victims get justice through adequate compensation.

Going forward, the military should be more circumspect in future operations to avoid this recurring incident.

Before the Kaduna incident, Nigeria had recorded similar incidents caused by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), which killed innocent citizens across the country.

A report titled “Air Force Mishaps” by a research organisation, SBM Intelligence, in February 2023, revealed that over 300 civilians have been killed in accidental airstrikes by the NAF since 2017.

SBM said the airstrikes happened while the NAF was in pursuit of terrorists. It added that Niger, Yobe, Zamfara, Borno, Nasarawa, Kaduna, and Katsina are the worst-hit states in the country.

Military authorities should put an end to the killing of innocent civilians by soldiers in the course of fighting terrorists.