Honouring victims most important now, DHQ replies
Contrary to the casualty figures in the
public domain following Tuesday’s mistaken bombing of an internally
displaced persons camp in Borno State, the chairman of Kala Balge Local
Government Area, where the accident occurred, Babagana Malarima, has
said that his people buried 234 persons killed in the airstrike.
Malarima said this on Friday when the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant
General Tukur Buratai, visited to condole with the people of Rann, whose
IDPs camp was the target of an accidental aerial bombardment by the
Nigerian Air Force.
But the Defence Headquarters said
yesterday that the focus now should be how to honour the dead and not
the number of those killed in the unintentional military air strike.
“The most important thing is that we are saddened by the incident. It’s
an operational error and we are sorry about it. It can happen in
operations.
Even internationally, it has happened in
Syria and Afghanistan,” Director of Defence Information, Brig Gen Rabe
Abubakar, told THISDAY against the backdrop of the new casualty figure
released by the Kala Balge local government chairman. “It is an
operational error. Whether it was one person or one million persons, it
is immaterial. They are all Nigerians, what is important is to honour
the victims involved in this circumstance.”
The air force was said to be targeting a
gathering of the Boko Haram terrorist group, when it mistakenly hit the
IDPs camp, killing and injuring many persons, including people who had
fled their homes due to terror attacks and sought refuge at the camp as
well as local and foreign humanitarian aid workers. The international
aid agency, MSF, was quoted as saying that at least 50 persons were
killed, with more than 100 injured. Some reports put the death toll at
100.
But Malarima told Buratai that 234 bodies were carried away from the scene of the raid in Rann and buried. Borno State Government said two of the injured persons, who were taken to Maiduguri for treatment, also died.
But Malarima told Buratai that 234 bodies were carried away from the scene of the raid in Rann and buried. Borno State Government said two of the injured persons, who were taken to Maiduguri for treatment, also died.
The council chairman called on the
federal government to compensate the bereaved families and others
affected by the bombing. He said the volume of destruction of lives and
property was massive. He also asked the government to build roads that
would link the area to other parts of the state.
Buratai commiserated with the people
over the accident. He said he was talking with the commanding officers
to ensure there was no repeat of such mistake.
The army chief said barely two days after the Rann misfire by the air force jets, a group of Boko Haram insurgents launched an attack on the community, targeting both the traumatised civilians and the troops. But he said they were successfully repelled, with 15 terrorists killed and one captured alive with their arms and ammunition.
The army chief said barely two days after the Rann misfire by the air force jets, a group of Boko Haram insurgents launched an attack on the community, targeting both the traumatised civilians and the troops. But he said they were successfully repelled, with 15 terrorists killed and one captured alive with their arms and ammunition.
Buratai, who was shown the corpses and
weapons recovered from the insurgents,said, “The intelligence
information we got from our partners was that Boko Haram terrorists were
moving into this place and, indeed, the information was that they were
already in this place. It’s not unconnected because you saw them coming
to attack them here.
“Probably, it must be the information
that was gotten and passed to the air component for them to take
necessary action and, unfortunately, a mistake happened and it has
happened before in other places and we pray it doesn’t happen again.”
The Nigerian Air Force said it had commenced a review of its operations to unravel the cause of the accidental air raid with a view to preventing a recurrence. Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadiq Abubakar, disclosed this in Lagos at a ceremony in honour of about 100 NAF officers that died in a military plane crash in 1992 at Ejigbo, Lagos.
The Nigerian Air Force said it had commenced a review of its operations to unravel the cause of the accidental air raid with a view to preventing a recurrence. Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadiq Abubakar, disclosed this in Lagos at a ceremony in honour of about 100 NAF officers that died in a military plane crash in 1992 at Ejigbo, Lagos.
Abubakar said, “Although remarkable
successes were achieved, the incident of January 17 in the North-east is
highly regrettable and unfortunate. The days between the incident and
now have been the most painful for us.
“However, we take solace in the fact that it was in a bid to secure this same victims that this sad incident occurred.
“We are reviewing our processes to unravel how this sad incident could have occurred and to prevent future occurrences.”
“However, we take solace in the fact that it was in a bid to secure this same victims that this sad incident occurred.
“We are reviewing our processes to unravel how this sad incident could have occurred and to prevent future occurrences.”
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Army on Saturday
called for the immediate rehabilitation of roads leading to Rann in
order to prevent the area from becoming a new haven of Boko Haram
insurgency. Buratai made the call during the inauguration of the newly
renovated Wolf Officers’ Mess in Maiduguri. He said the deplorable
condition of the road had made it difficult for the troops to access the
area.
He said, “We were at Rann and saw the
devastation and impact made by the mistake. We have seen the people and
condoled with them. The roads there are not passable, especially, during
the rainy season. Government should open up roads there to enhance
military operation.”
In his remarks, the Acting General
Officer Commanding 7 Division of the Nigerian Army, Brig. Gen. Victor
Ezugwu, thanked Buratai for the project, saying, “We will not rest on
our oars until this war comes to an end.”
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