Photo Credit: Kehinde Gbenga/AP Photo
About 120 persons were confirmed dead in the air strikes by the Nigerian Army at Tudun Biri village in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State, in one of the deadliest accidental bombing by the military in the country’s history.
Survivors of the accidental bombing of Tudun Biri in the Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State on Tuesday said they were bombed twice by the Nigerian Army as officials of Amnesty International visited the affected communities and confirmed the increase in the death toll.
The North-West zonal spokesman of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Halima Suleiman, had confirmed 85 dead on Monday, saying search was still ongoing and 66 other victims were injured in Sunday’s bombing.
She said the fatality figure was gotten from the local authorities after the burial of the victims on Monday.
“The Northwest Zonal Office has received details from the local authorities that 85 dead bodies have so far been buried while a search is still ongoing,” NEMA said.
However, emergency officials were still negotiating with community leaders to calm tensions to be able to reach the village.
President Bola Tinubu had on Tuesday ordered an investigation after the army acknowledged one of its drones accidentally struck Tudun Biri village as residents were celebrating a Muslim festival.
The army did not give any casualty figures, but residents had said 85 people, many of them women and children had been killed in the incident.
“President Tinubu describes the incident as very unfortunate, disturbing, and painful, expressing indignation and grief over the tragic loss of Nigerian lives,” the presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, said in a statement.
Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State also ordered a full investigation into Sunday’s incident, reassuring the citizens that their security and protection will be prioritised in the sustained fight against terrorists, bandits, and other criminal elements.
In a statement issued to condole with the people of Tudun Biri community over the tragic incident, the governor said his administration is determined to prevent a repeat of the incident.
While directing the immediate evacuation of the injured to the Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital for emergency medical attention, the governor disclosed that The Kaduna State Government will be responsible for their treatment and related logistics.
He, however, appealed to the affected community and all citizens of the state to be calm and continue to support the security forces and the state government in the battle against terrorists, bandits, kidnappers, and other criminal elements in the state.
Nigeria’s armed forces often rely on air strikes in their battle against so-called bandit militias in the northwest and northeast of the country, where jihadists have been fighting for more than a decade.