Nigeria’s Army Chief had tendered an apology to the families of victims of the Tudun Biri drone attack by operatives of the Nigerian Army.
Army spokesman Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu had earlier said that troops carrying out aerial patrols 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.
Army Chief Lt. Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja has ordered an investigation and the outcome would guide the army to deal with any identified lapses in human and artificial intelligence, said Nwachukwu.
The Nigerian Army on Monday accepted responsibility for what they claimed was an error attack that killed dozens of villagers in the Northern state of Kaduna on Sunday night when they were celebrating the Muslim festival of Maulud Nabbiy.
The Chief of Army Staff, Lagbaja also donated a sum of N10 million to the injured survivors of the accident for their upkeep. He paid them a visit at the Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital Kaduna on Tuesday.
The Army Chief was accompanied to the village by top military commanders. He prayed at the mass grave of the victims.
The village is about five kilometers west of the Kaduna International Airport.
Speaking with journalists shortly after the visit, the Army Chief said the accidental strike was done by Unarmed Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) platforms on the trail of 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 on innocent civilian in Tudun Biri that the drone carried out the strike on,” Lagbaja said.
He said 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 prevent a reoccurrence of such an unfortunate incident.
“We also look beyond to determine the kind of operations we will be conducting going forward in the vicinity and its environs,”.
“We have already set up an inquiry, while the visit to the village has given an idea of the kind of expertise that would be employed into the committee. The inquiry committee will ensure a holistic view and recommendations that will be worthwhile going forward.”
He said the Nigerian Army as a responsible organisation of the Government would support the law-abiding citizens and their families for being victims of the unfortunate incident. He also said that the army would also provide support to the entire community to alleviate their sufferings.
The Chief of Army Staff urged the community to always provide useful information to authorities and security operatives to ensure swift action against criminals.
The District Head of Rigasa, Alhaji Aminu Idris, described the drone attack incident as unfortunate. He said that over 80 people were buried.
He also confirmed what the Army Chief said that the area was infested by bandits and the community had suffered banditry attacks.
He urged the Army to continue doing its best to protect the lives and properties of the citizens. He also expressed optimism that the authorities would compensate the families of the deceased to reduce their sufferings.
Earlier this year, an airstrike near the village of Akwanaja shows how Nigeria’s military has repeatedly conducted attacks from the air that have killed civilians. Dozens of ethnic Fulani herders were killed in that Jan. 24 aerial bombing in the central Nigerian state of Nasarawa as they were unloading cattle retrieved from authorities in neighbouring Benue state.
Nigeria is engaged in a war with Islamist insurgents in the northeast. The Air Force is often called on to tackle criminal activity like banditry in areas far from the conflict zone.
