THE Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja, today expressed sadness over the fatal airstrike that left 85 persons dead and numerous more injured in Kaduna State.
Visiting the scene of the accident that has cast the country into mourning, the army commander expressed the Nigerian Army’s regret to the people, the government, and the community of Kaduna State.
Lagbaja visited the victims two days after the accidental strike in the North-West state’s Igabi district, and pledged to prevent similar incidents in the future when conducting military operations.
“My assessment of that unfortunate incident of Sunday, December 3, 2023, is that it is grave, regrettable. We will do everything possible to prevent such an occurrence from happening again in the conduct of our operations going forward,” he said about one of the country’s deadliest military bombing accidents.
The army chief met with the Dangaladima Zazau, the District Head of Rigasa, Architect Aminu Idris, other leaders, and community people. He was accompanied by important staff officers from army headquarters and the General Officer Commanding 1 Division.
Earlier, the army acknowledged one of its drones aimed at armed groups had accidentally struck the Tudun Biri village as residents were celebrating a Muslim festival. Though the army did not give any casualty figures, residents had said 85 people, many of them women and children, had been killed.
The North-West zonal spokesman of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Halima Suleiman had also stated today that 66 other victims were also injured in Sunday’s bombing.
She said the fatality figure was gotten from the local authorities after the burial of the victims yesterday.
