Horrid Error

● Army’s killing of Kaduna worshippers is security mission grossly misdirected

Asorry matter soured the nation. More than 80 villagers were killed penultimate Sunday in a drone attack by the Nigerian Army personnel aimed at terrorists but delivered on worshippers. The tragedy, which occurred at Tudun Biri village in Igabi council area of Kaduna State, has left the nation seeking answers. Why, many are asking, could the carnage of innocents not have been avoided?

The army conducted what was said to be a routine airstrike targeted at terrorists and bandits that had been infesting the area. Only that when the strike hit home, it was against harmless religious adherents celebrating the Maulud. New reports say some Christians in the area also lost their lives in the inferno. Neither the military nor the Kaduna State government provided the official casualty toll. But the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), in a statement, said 85 bodies, including those of children, women and the elderly had been buried while search was underway for additional victims. The agency added that at least 66 people were injured. Community sources estimated the death toll at far in excess of 100.

Following the mishap, it was initially thought the bomb was dropped by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), but the force disclaimed the operation. NAF spokesman, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, said in a statement: “The news making the rounds that Nigerian Air Force (NAF) aircraft accidentally killed innocent civilians in Kaduna is false. Please be informed that the NAF has not carried out any air operations within Kaduna State and environs in the last 24 hours. Also note that the NAF is not the only organisation operating combat armed drones in the Northwestern region of Nigeria.”

However, the army has since owned up to the incident, which it regretted as an error. During a visit to the affected community last week Tuesday, Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant-Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, apologised for the drone strike, saying it was carried out “based on observation of some tactics usually employed by bandits; unfortunately, the reports we got revealed it was innocent civilians the drone conducted a strike on.”

Director of Defence Media Operations, Major-Gen. Edward Buba, gave a more detailed narrative in a statement, saying the strike was based on credible intelligence about the presence of terrorists in the area. According to him, a Nigerian Army Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) detachment had that Sunday night observed suspicious movement of terrorists around the community, known to be a terrorist-infested area of Kaduna State. Aerial surveillance, he said, captured movement of groups of persons akin to terrorists’ tactics and modus operandi, and the observed advance of the terrorists posed a threat to key infrastructure within reach. That threat, Buba explained, was eliminated to prevent the terrorists attacking innocent civilians.

The defence spokesman said: “It should be noted that terrorists often deliberately embed themselves within civilian population centres for civilians to bear the consequences of their atrocities. Nevertheless, the Nigerian military does its best at all times to distinguish between civilians and terrorists. The military views every civilian death in the course of operations as a tragedy; as such tragedies are needless and unwanted, which causes the armed forces to take extensive measures to avoid them.” He explained that one such measure taken by the military was to continually sensitise communities “to always alert troops of their activities, particularly when such a community is known to be infested with terrorists and their sympathisers. These instructions are intended at enabling the military to distinguish between friendly and untoward activities.” It was not clear if Buba was thereby saying Tudun Biri village residents did not pre-notify the army of their outing that fateful Sunday.

For his part, army spokesperson, Brigadier-Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, said service personnel had been on “aerial patrol when they observed a group of people and wrongly analysed and misinterpreted their pattern of activities to be similar to that of bandits,” leading them to carry out the drone strike. He added in a statement that the general area had before now been subjected to frequent attacks by terrorists operating in the area, hence the aerial patrol.

The military are, no doubt, rendering great service in securing the country against the menace of terrorists. In the past year, we have witnessed the dislodgement, arrests and evisceration of their goons and camps. We are supposed to show gratitude. But the Tudun Biri incident is another cue for a reality check. It is curious that the strike aimed at terrorists but ended up killing scores of harmless villagers, without confirmed indication of terrorists being among the casualties. This suggests there was a terribly wrong lead but it has been perceived in some quarters as wrongheaded. It may have arisen from faulty intelligence. We need an independent analysis of the data that informed such an attack, and expert views untainted by partisan interest are required as to whether the data justified that action or whether the decision came out of incompetence, impetuosity or malice. We need to know the facts. How, for instance, did the intelligence operate and did not see the presence of women and children, who apparently made the curious body count? The huge death toll also evidenced lack of precision and indiscriminate target-aiming by army personnel.

Could it be there was a challenge with the mastery of the technology used for the operation? If so, it implies carelessness at the highest level. How can a technologically untrained or immature person handle a matter of life and death? How come no child was seen? Was there not supposed to be layers of checks before unleashing weapons in a society in which innocents mix with the guilty? Traditionally, the NAF handled aerial dimension of security missions, but the army now has an air wing for its operations. Are the personnel of this wing sufficiently stewed in handling aerial missions, or is there a need for tutelage by the NAF to cultivate precision skills? Did institutional arrogance play a part in a lack of synergy with the NAF before carrying out the assault?

We also condemn some persons who have turned it into a case of religious quarrel. Some have sullied it into a north-and-south matter and Christian versus Muslim fisticuff. Some clerics have lost their pious detachment and uttered incendiary rhetoric, trying to stoke citizens against citizens. Let us not imply without evidence that the army attacked out of ill-will. The same forces have been defending the communities with bandits casting long shadows of death and fear on innocent lives. They deserve a benefit of the doubt while the country comes to the truth about it. The Vice President, Kashim Shettima, has visited the community and families and assured of the government’s sincerity to find out the truth and bring a measure of restitution to affected families. We know that no amount of restitution can replace a human being and that is why we must not repeat that disaster even as we seek the truth.

We appreciate the symbolism of lawmakers volunteering their salaries, even if the public sees it as cynical sacrifice for a tribe that earns bountifully at the expense of the people. The lawmakers more importantly need to help in seeking a closure on this matter by investing time in the investigation.

President Bola Tinubu has ordered a thorough investigation. It is expected that the findings will be made public when the probe is completed and lessons drawn therefrom diligently applied. The Tudun Biri mishap is one too many and everything must be done to prevent a reoccurrence.

-The Nation