On December 3, 2023, Nigerians were jolted by the killing of over 80 civilians in Tudun Biri village in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State in a drone attack accident. The unfortunate incident claimed no fewer than 127 lives while scores of others were seriously injured.
The innocent civilians were erroneously killed during a religious ceremony when the army mistakenly bombed civilians in a drone attack targeted at terrorists and bandits. The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, who apologised for the drone strike during a visit to the village, explained that it was carried out “based on the observation of some tactics usually employed by bandits.”
Consequently, President Bola Tinubu ordered a thorough and full-fledged investigation into the incident. He also called for calm. Since 2017, Nigeria has witnessed a series of such deadly erroneous attacks in conflict zones in the country, which claimed over 400 lives.
We condemn the deadly Kaduna bombing and urge the military authorities to avoid a repeat of such a costly mistake. The loss of over 127 lives in the incident is regrettable. Government should come up with new measures to prevent such tactical accidents. We have had many in this country. We don’t need more. It is commendable that the army has admitted its error and apologised for the tactical blunder.
However, the accident should not deter the war against terrorists, bandits and other criminals across the country. At the same time, the military should step-up its training and retraining of its officers to ensure precision in weapon handling. Although accidents are bound to occur, they should not be made the norm in military operations.
The unfortunate incident has further brought to the fore the need for collaboration and cooperation among the security agencies as well as prioritization of intelligence gathering and sharing. There is need to expose our military officers to foreign training in combating terrorism.
We sympathise with the families of the victims of the drone attack in Tudun Biri and wish the injured speedy recovery. We also implore the government to pay adequate compensation to the victims of the attack as well as the hospital bills of the injured. The government should also play active role in the rehabilitation of the injured in the attacks.
The matter should be thoroughly and transparently investigated. The panel must ensure justice for the victims of Kaduna bombing. There should be no sacred cows in the investigation. Let the findings of the panel be made public. All those implicated in the attacks must be sanctioned adequately.
Before now, critics had raised concerns about the lack of collaboration among the security agencies, the proliferation of drones without coordination, and the lack of diligence in conflict zone operations using manned jets and unmanned drones. These concerns should be urgently addressed. Glossing over them will no doubt worsen the situation and further prolong the war against terrorism.
The war against terrorism should be reinvigorated and targeted to crush the enemies. And where mistakes occur, they should be promptly corrected. The mistakes should not be allowed to affect the morale of the troops. They should not be used by some people or groups to cast aspersions on the military. There is even no end to read undue meanings into the unfortunate incident or use it to divide the country along party, ethnic and religious lines.
Nevertheless, it is time for the military to change its tactics in the war against terrorism. It has been acknowledged that kinetic measures alone may not likely lead to quick resolution of the conflict. Therefore, we enjoin the federal government to embrace non-kinetic measures in tackling the prevailing insecurity across the country.
However, the civilian population in conflict zones has a role to play to forestall similar incidents by providing information to the military on the locations of terrorists and bandits in their areas. Localizing security matters will largely help in winning the war against bandits and terrorists.
This is probably why some eminent Nigerians have called for the decentralization of the Nigeria Police Force. Unfortunately, the government has treated such calls with disdain. Beyond the decentralization of the police force, let the military embrace professionalism in the ongoing war against terrorism.