On Kaduna bombing

ON Monday, Nigerians woke up to yet again encounter another agonizing story of a reckless, avoidable and costly error made by the Nigerian Army, leading to the loss of innocent lives. As confirmed by the Kaduna State government, on the night of Sunday, 4th December, 2023, a military jet belonging to the Nigerian Army bombed peaceful Maulud celebrants at Tudun Biri village in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State. The unfortunate act led to the murder of promising innocent people, mostly children and women. The gory image of their dead bodies steeped in their own pool of blood will continue to haunt the consciousness of any rational being. As of now, family , friends and relatives have mass-buried not less than 87 dead bodies while search and rescue operations are still ongoing in order to recover the remaining corps and injured ones. Meanwhile, the Deputy, Chief Medical Director of Barau Dikko Hospital told newsmen that about 66 badly injured injured victims were admitted into the medical facility for treatment.

Taking the responsibility for the act, the Nigerian Army, through the General Officer Commanding 1 Division, Nigerian Army and Force Commander Operation Whirl Punch, Major-General VU Okoro, admitted that the air components of the Army was on a routine mission against terrorists when the incident happened. “The General Officer Commanding 1 Division Nigerian Army, Major VU Okoro, explained that the Nigerian Army was on a routine mission against terrorists but inadvertently affected members of the community,” a statement by the Kaduna State government noted. Didn’t the military do its homework thoroughly and adequately after receiving intelligence before acting so as to avoid recurrence of these kinds of unfortunate incidents? Were the soldiers not trained adequately on how to separate the chaff from the grains? Or do they lack the requisite technology to identify law-abiding civilians from the swarm of terrorists? Because, it is still fresh in our minds how in February, the Nigerian Air Force, NAF, jet also bombed a group of herdsmen in Nasarawa while returning from Benue to secure release of their livestock. Over 40 innocent Fulani herders were gruesomely massacred in Doma Local Government Area of the  State  during that incident.

This Nasarawa incident is just a tip of an iceberg from the series of civilian bombings undertaken by the military in recent years. For instance , in September 2021, the NAF air craft fired upon and killed more than 60 civilians at Daban Masara village of Borno State. The same NAF fighter jet had also in January 2017 bombed a refugee camp in Borno State killing more than 100 civilians including 20 humanitarian aid workers. It is obvious that these incidents kept on recurring because the federal government and Military High Command did not make any significant effort to curtail its rising tides. Because, whenever it happens, the government and Military High Command will only issue a  condemnation and promise to investigate the matter which nobody will ever hear about. The case is closed! Notwithstanding, people are tired of this and deserve to know the truth of the matter before it snowballs to becoming a public disorder with grievous implications.

It is pertinent that  President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Gwabin Musa, the Chief of Army Staff, COAS, Lt. Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja and Kaduna State government swing into action to investigate this matter and apprehend the culprits involved in the act, so that they can  face the kind of justice they deserved. Only doing that will put a halt to this kind of recklessness by military air troops, under the disguise of pursuing terrorists. Meanwhile, the bereaved family should be fully compensated for the colossal and irreparable losses they have just suffered. May the souls of the deceased find tranquility in the bosom of God Almighty. Ameen.

• Mukhtar writes in from Abuja.