End terrorism, bombing mishaps and avoidable carnage

That mistaken bombing of civilians at Tudun Biri village in Igabi Local Government Kaduna State by a military drone, on Sunday, December 3, 2023 is another painful reminder of the vulnerability of civilian lives in the ongoing war against terrorism in the country. While the incident is most pathetic and deserving of all the official and unofficial condolences it has attracted, it unfortunately signposts that unless the war against terror is steered into a safe and concluding end, the likelihood of more innocent casualties will remain high in the course of the conflict. After all, reports indicate that the Kaduna State incident was the 16th of such inadvertent military attacks on civilian and innocent targets in nine years. That is most unfortunate, and calls for urgent re-strategic efforts and synergy by the various security agencies.

According to reports, the villagers were on a peaceful Maulud (celebration of the birth of Holy Prophet Mohammed) procession when a drone belonging to the Nigerian Army was fired at them, on the thinking that they were members of outlawed bandits or terrorists hibernating in the locality. The death toll from that incident may have reached 120 according to Amnesty International (AI). The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) had put the initial causality figures at 85 while 66 persons suffered injuries. The Country Director of AI, Isah Sanusi said its officials on ground counted over 120 casualties, with each mass grave containing at least 77 bodies.

The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja described the deadly airstrike as grave and regrettable during his visit to the site of the mishap. He equally apologised on behalf of the Army to the community, government and people of Kaduna State. He promised to guard against such an occurrence in the conduct of future operations, while investigations will be done to unravel the details of the attack.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has also condoled with the people, describing the incident as very unfortunate, disturbing and painful. He has directed a thorough and full-fledged investigation into the incident, as he directed swift and comprehensive medical attention for the survivors.

Beyond apologies, it is high time military operations are conducted with utmost care and precision, as cases of deadly mistaken bombings on civilian targets have become too frequent.

On January 17, 2017, a Nigerian Air Force jet mistakenly bombed an internally displaced persons’ camp near Rann, the Cameroonian border, in Borno State. That bombing left at least 115 people dead, including six Red Cross aid workers, and more than 100 injured.  In that incident, the target was Boko Haram insurgents, who were reportedly doing reconnaissance preparatory to attack a military target. Major General Lucky Irabor, then Commander of the forces in the Northeast, was reported to have ordered the airstrike. President Muhammadu Buhari also described the incident as a “regrettable operational mistake,” as the military planned an investigation to determine whether it was indeed an operational error. Not much was heard of that incident and the subsequent investigation.

After months of uncertainty, the Nigerian Air Force, in June this year admitted responsibility for the bombing at Kawatiri, a rural community in Nasarawa State, which killed 39 people on January 24. According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), its investigations confirmed that 39 were killed with six injured. The Police in Nasarawa State had reported 27 herders killed without providing details of the circumstances and Governor Abdullahi Sule had claimed that no air force plane flew in the area at the time the incident occurred. But HRW revealed that the herders had gone to pay ransom for their cattle that were apprehended by the Livestock Guards, a security outfit of the Benue State Government that had outlawed open grazing.  It took the persistence of HRW to get the details after it visited the community, verified reports and photographs as well as visited the grave where 31 persons were buried.

More pathetic in the Kawatiri bombing was the failure of the Police, the Air Force and the Nasarawa government to agree on the circumstances of the incident and put the minds of survivors and their kith and kin to rest.

It is unfortunate that those responsible for incidents of this nature are not quick to own up, making it difficult for the people to accept their losses with equanimity.

However, the Army did better this time by promptly taking quick responsibility for the Kaduna mishap. Other bombing mishaps were either denied or underplayed. It is on record that more than 425 persons including children have been killed in mistaken military bombings between 2017 and 2023. SBM intelligence had reported in February of incidents in Niger, Yobe, Zamfara, Kaduna and Katsina being the worst-hit.

The calm and understanding with which the people of Tudun Biri are mourning their losses are commendable. But this is the time for those responsible for using lethal weapons to be extra careful. There is no excuse for an error of this magnitude, except to emphasise that it should never happen again.

Those who gather intelligence and those who act on it must close ranks now than before. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has a sacred assignment to bring the anti-terrorism war to a close. Nigeria is spending scarce resources on this war and the country cannot continue like this interminably. In his Renewed Hope document, the president promised to engage insecurity with more precision and better results. Let the President know that he hasn’t even started because a lot of incompetence is still going on. The security architecture must change for the better.

Let there be more will power to deal with insurgents and their sponsors. The Attorney General of the Federation should also re-strategise prosecution plans. Much as national security cannot often be discussed openly, it is important nonetheless that terrorists, prospective recruits and terrorism sponsors are shown clearly that there will be grave consequences for their action.  If activities of bandits and terrorists are carried out in the open, their trial and punishment should equally be open to deter others and end terrorism.

Communities and their leaders also have a duty to trust security agencies with intelligence and be very discreet about it, especially in those areas such as Birin Gari, where bandits and terrorists embed among the people. Security agencies must treat such information with utmost discretion and responsibility to safeguard informants.

The trust deficit between the government and the people is huge. Previous efforts at unravelling incidents of mishaps never resulted in punishment for lapses. This is the time for the government to earn the trust of the people by making reports of investigations transparent irrespective of where the error emanated. The result is to ensure that grave errors of this kind are mitigated if not totally eliminated.

There is a need to revamp intelligence and surveillance. Let the right information get to the military and let saboteurs be exposed and dealt with. Nigeria cannot afford to have a compromised military. And this is the time for the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, to sit down and justify his appointment.