From: Femi Oyelola, Kaduna
The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, has commiserated with victims of the Tudun Biri drone attack by troops of the Nigerian Army while tendering an unreserved apology.
This was as he donated the sum of N10 million to the injured survivors of the accident for their upkeep, as he paid them them visit at the Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital Kaduna on Tuesday.
Recall, the Nigerian Army, on Monday accepted responsibility for the error attack that claimed dozens of lives on Sunday night when the villagers were celebrating Maulud Nabbiy.
The Chief of Army Staff who was accompanied to the village, which is about five kilometres west of the Kaduna International Airport by top military commanders, prayed at the mass grave of the victims.
Speaking with journalists shortly afterward, the COAS said the accidental strike was done by Unarmed Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) platforms on the trail of the bandits.
According to him, “On Sunday the 3rd of December, 2023, while the Nigerian Army UAV (Unarmed Aerial Vehicle) platforms were conducting armed reconnaissance around the vicinity of Riyawa, Ruma. The drones observed the movement of people suspected to be bandits and having trailed them for some time, the decision was taken to strike based on the observation of some tactics usually employed by bandits.
“Unfortunately, the report we got thereafter revealed that it was an innocent civilian in Tudun Biri that the drone carried out the strike on,” Lagbaja said.
He continued that, with the reports, he felt the urgent and essential need to visit the attacked vicinity physically to first commiserate with the community on the unfortunate incident.
According to him, the visit was also aimed at determining the kind of inquiry that would be conducted by the Nigerian Army to forestall a recurrence of such kind of unfortunate incident.
“We also look beyond to determine the kind of operations, we will be conducting going forward in the vicinity and its environs.”
