Bombing refugees in error

THE world woke up in shock last Tuesday as news of the bombing of refugees in an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp located at the Rann camp in Kala-Balge Local Government Area of Borno State hit the airwaves. The victims, mainly hapless victims who fled their homes at the onslaught of the notorious bloodthirsty hounds of Boko Haram, met their untimely deaths when a jet of the Nigerian military pounded their camp, ostensibly mistaking them for the dreaded insurgents. No consensus has emerged on the actual number of casualty figures, but  the Red Cross has stated that it lost six officers. A statement by Eloi Fillion, head of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (ICRC) delegation in Nigeria, said the six who died “were in Rann as part of a humanitarian operation bringing food to more than 25,000 displaced people.” While some claimed that the casualty figure was over 100, others said it was in the neighbourhood of 200 persons. Twenty four hours after the attack, some critically injured persons were reportedly yet to be evacuated from the scene and many members of the Doctors Without Borders group were also killed in the operation.

The essence of government being to protect the citizenry, there have naturally been calls across the world for an investigation into this unfortunate incident. The United Nations and the ICRC have demanded that the Nigerian government should ensure that the  incident does not recur. The UN, in a statement issued by the Office of the UN Secretary-General, called for a full investigation into the attack and demanded greater governmental measures to protect civilians in the affected areas in future military operations. In the UN’s words, “UN humanitarian officials are also questioning how a military airstrike ended up striking the displacement camp. Intermingled with messages of sympathy and solidarity with the victims, UN agencies called for a full investigation and greater measures to protect civilians going forward.”

Of a truth, incidents of missed targets are not unusual in military operations, worldwide. Military aerial operations that missed their targets have been recorded to have bombed hospitals, civilian targets and the like, though to the chagrin of the world. However, everywhere bombings of this nature have happened, there have been thorough investigations into the nature and circumstances of the incidents with the intention of preventing a recurrence and ensuring that indeed, there were no ulterior motives in the exercise. Thankfully, the Federal Government has called for an investigation into what went wrong in Borno and resulted in the avoidable loss of lives of innocent Nigerians in the IDP camp.

Without pre-empting the investigation, there are some germane questions provoked by this unfortunate bombing incident. First, how can it be fathomed by any civilized mind that the Nigerian military which has long been embroiled in combating Boko Haram and been involved in the establishment of IDP camps does not have a census of these camps where helpless Nigerians are quartered, especially since the affected camp is not new? Put in other words, can it be said that the military bombers who pummelled the IDP camp in question were not actually aware of the presence of an IDP camp in this particular place? Second, how carefully was the supposed intelligence report of a Boko Haram camp at that spot analysed before the bombers took off to attack it? If the intelligence report took a while in circulation among the military fighters, it should have given them enough opportunity to ascertain the area and probably be reminded that the alleged Boko Haram spot was actually an IDP camp.

Again, from the military bombers’ experience, did this IDP camp and its outward operations, which must have been viewed through binoculars inside a jet, have any similarity with a Boko Haram camp? For instance, the victims were reported to have been on a queue, collecting their rations and being attended to by the officials of the humanitarian agencies. Did this scene tally with that of the average terrorist camp? With sophisticated equipment installed inside the military jet, was it not easy and possible for the area to be viewed mid-air,  and for the discussions and transactions therein to be picked up, which would have given the military bombers an inkling of the nature and features of the camp?

As earlier noted, the affected camp was known to be an old IDP camp and even if it was new, a plea of ignorance would be the most obtuse excuse by professional military bombers,  as we presume the bombers were. These are critical questions that the Nigerian military and the expected inquisition into the incident may want to answer in the quest to unravel what actually transpired at the IDP camp. More fundamentally, we recommend that the victims be properly compensated. For those still alive, government must ensure that they are given the best medical treatment and that the casualty of the bombing is not further swelled. The families of those who unfortunately lost their lives must also be adequately compensated.

We commiserate with the government and people of Borno State. May the souls of the departed rest in sweet repose.