The Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja, on Tuesday, described the deadly airstrike that killed 85 people and injured several others in Kaduna State as regrettable.
The army chief, who visited the site of the mishap that has thrown the nation into a sorrowful mood, apologised on behalf of the Nigerian Army to the community, the government, and the people of Kaduna State.
Lagbaja, who visited the victims two days after the accidental strike in the Igabi area of the North-West state, promised to guard against such an occurrence in the conduct of 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 was accompanied by principal staff officers from the army headquarters and the General Officer Commanding 1 Division and also met with the Dangaladima Zazau, the District Head of Rigasa, Architect Aminu Idris, other leaders, and members of the community.
Eighty-five were killed in an air strike by the Nigerian Army at Tudun Biri village in the Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State, in one of the country’s deadliest military bombing accidents.
Confusion had trailed Sunday’s accidental air strike with the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) saying it was not responsible for the bombing.
Hours later, the Kaduna State Government said the Army had taken responsibility for the accidental mistake.
Nigeria’s armed forces often rely on air strikes in their battle against so-called bandit militias in the North-West and North-East of the country, where terrorists have been fighting for more than a decade.
