COAS Lagbaja visits Kaduna community after troops “mistakenly” killed dozens of civilians in drone attack
The Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja and other top personnel in the Nigerian Army on Tuesday paid a condolence visit to the Tudun Biri community in the Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna state.
He went to sympathized with the whole community over the unfortunate incident that took place on Sunday, 3 December. The army personnel mistakenly targeted civilians in the community while pursuing terrorists.
Kaduna is one of the worst hit areas where bandits, kidnapers and terrorists operate. The incident claimed dozens of lives and destroyed lots of properties while hundreds suffered from varying degrees of injuries, some life-threatening.
The Director, Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu, shared photos and details of the visit of the army chief to the community on the verified handle of the Nigerian Army on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Yesterday, the army admitted that it wrongly hit the civilians and tendered its apology. General Lagbaja said that the troops wrongly interpreted the civilians wo gathered and struck them with drone.
The statement read, “The Army Chief arrived the community in the early hours of Tuesday, December 5 2023, accompanied by Principal Staff Officers from the Army Headquarters and the General Officer Commanding 1 Division, where he met with the Dangaladima Zazau, the District Head of Rigasa, Architect Aminu Idris, other leaders and members of the community.
“The COAS in an emotion laden speech expressed regrets on the unfortunate mishap, describing it as a very disheartening occurrence. Gen. Lagbaja noted that in the recent past, the general area of Tudun Biri and adjoining villages were infested with armed bandits, who terrorised the communities, until troops of the Nigerian Army started conducting operations to sanitize the area and make it habitable.
“He pointed out, that the troops were carrying out aerial patrols when they observed a group of people and wrongly analyzed and misinterpreted their pattern of activities to be similar to that of the bandits, before the drone strike.
“The COAS stated that he was in Tudun Biri to personally witness the site of the mishap and to convey sincere regrets and unreserved apologies on behalf of the Nigerian Army to the District Head and people of the community, as well as the government and entire people of Kaduna State.
“He disclosed that he has ordered a thorough inquiry into the incident to ascertain and identify areas of deficiency that led to the inadvertent disaster, adding that the findings and overarching outcome of the investigation will guide the NA in meticulously and professionally seeking and applying lasting solutions to identified lapses and deficiencies in both the human and Artificial Intelligence variables that will forestall future recurrence.
“The Chief of Army Staff equally visited affected victims at the Barua Dikko Teaching Hospital Anguwan Rimi, Kaduna, where he expressed concern for the speedy recuperation of the hospitalized persons and made an immediate donation of several provisions for their upkeep.”
The statement further read that the District Head of Rigasa, Aminu Idris, said despite the enormity of the incident, the Nigerian Army showed integrity in accepting responsibility for the drone strike and urged its leadership to intervene in bringing succour to hospitalized victims and the community for their losses.
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