Nigeria: Deadly military mishaps spark calls for probe

Ever since Nigeria embarked on its ongoing campaign against insurgents and bandits in the northern region of the country, numerous civilians — including children — have lost their lives. But in an increasing number of cases, these deaths have inadvertently occurred at the hands of the military itself.

A particularly distressing incident recently occurred in the village of Tudun Biri in northwest Kaduna State as residents celebrated a Muslim festival: On the evening of December 4, an army drone strike killed at least 85 civilians by mistake while the Nigerian military was carrying out aerial patrols in the area.

The military claims they "misinterpreted" the group's "pattern of activities" to be similar to that of bandit militias.The Nigerian government responded by promising to punish those responsible for the accidental strike.

However, the incident is part of a disturbing trend: At least nine miscalculated airstrikes have occurred between September 2022 and January 2023.

Poor training and unreliable intelligence to blame

In the wake of the latest tragedy, calls for an investigation into the military's repeated mistakes have grown.

After President Bola Ahmed Tinubu ordered an inquiry into the incident, Muslim organization Fityanul Islam of Nigeria released a statement saying that "all arguments advanced by the army about 'mistaken identity' are grossly inadequate, unfair and seemingly insensitive."

"Military authorities must therefore come clean with more transparent information," it added.

Security experts attributed many of the military's mistakes to a lack of proper training and unreliable intelligence within the military.

Major Shu'aibu Bashir Galma, who has retired from the Nigerian military, emphasized the importance of confirming all intelligence reports before using them to conduct military operations.

"Any intelligence report that is not subjected to rigorous confirmation and re-confirmation is not considered to be reliable and should not be used for any type of military operation," he told DW.

Hard lessons

Nigeria's Chief of Defense Staff, General Christopher Gwabin Musa, said on national television on December 6 that "mistakes do happen," before calling for an increase in the military's budget.

That same day, a crowd of protestors took to the streets in Zaira near the site of the drone attack and in front of the National Assembly in Abuja to demand sanctions against the military.

Lawal Jafar Tahir, a political analyst from Yobe State University in Nigeria's northern city of Damaturu, underscored the need for decisive measures to prevent future tragic oversights.

"Those in charge of the technical know-how of army technology should be relieved, all of those that are responsible for this careless accident should be brought to book, and if they are should guilty they should be punished," he told DW.

"A serious investigation is needed in this calamity. This is not the first time, this is not the second time, this is not the third time."

In response to the accidental bombing in Kaduna, Nigeria's Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Taoreed Abiodun Lagbaja, apologized to the victims' relatives and vowed to take substantial action to prevent more incidents in the future.

"We will do everything possible to prevent such an occurrence from happening again in the conduct of our operations going forward," he said.

Outside of Nigeria, the United Nations called on the military to review its rules of engagement and operations to make sure no such incidents happen again, while human rights watchdog Amnesty International called on the Tinubu administration to "promptly" set up an independent inquiry and "ensure that those suspected to be responsible are brought to justice in fair trails."

 AFP contributed to this article, which has been adapted by Ineke Mules from a report on DW's AfricaLink, a daily podcast packed with news, politics, culture and more. You can listen and follow AfricaLink wherever you get your podcasts.