The state government official, who was helping to coordinate the evacuation of wounded from the remote area by helicopters, spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.
Military commander Maj. Gen. Lucky Irabor confirmed the accidental bombardment in northeast Rann, near the border with Cameroon, saying "some" civilians were killed.
It was believed to be the first time Nigeria's military has admitted to making such a mistake.
The International Committee for the Red Cross said six staff members and volunteers with the Nigerian Red Cross were among the dead and 13 were wounded.
"They were part of a team that had brought in desperately needed food for over 25,000 displaced persons," spokesman Jason Straziuso said in a statement from Nairobi, Kenya.
Two soldiers were also wounded as well as Nigerians working for Doctors Without Borders, Irabor said, without giving a precise figure.
Doctors Without Borders said its team based in Rann had counted 50 bodies and treated 120 wounded. A statement from spokesman Etienne l'Hermitte in Geneva urged authorities to facilitate cross-border land and air evacuations.
"Our medical and surgical teams in Cameroon and Chad are ready to treat wounded patients. We are in close contact with our teams, who are in shock following the event," the statement said.Irabor said he ordered the mission based on information that Boko Haram insurgents were gathering in the area, along with geographic coordinates. It was too early to say if a tactical error was made, he said.
The general, who is the theater commander for counterinsurgency operations in northeast Nigeria, said the air force would not deliberately target civilians but there will be an investigation.
What a country!!!
ReplyDeleteNigeria is a zoo. It gets scarier by the day. Too bad.
Mistakenly ke!
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of terrible mistake was that? Bunchs of unprofessional incompetent sets of people
ReplyDeleteNa wa ooo
DeleteI am curious! Something here just doesn't add up!
ReplyDeleteI have researched the internet for some information on Kala/Balge community on Google Map and Wikipedia. Kala/Balge is a Local Government Area (LGA) about 160km (as the crow flies) from Maiduguri to the North-East and about 20km from Ngigo, a border community with Cameroon. It has an area of 1,896 km² and a population of 60,797 as at the 2006 census. If you refer to Google Map (see link below), you will notice that the community occupies only a tiny fraction of this huge land mass. THE EXACT LOCATION OF THE COMMUNITY IS VERY WELL KNOWN TO THE NIGERIAN MILITARY AND THE NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT!
I have a lot of reservation with the statement attributed to the Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, Maj. Gen. Lucky Irabor. There are a number of inconsistencies. Let us analyse, shall we:
1. "We received a report about the gathering of Boko Haram terrorists around Kala Balge area of Maiduguri."
My Thoughts: Kala/Balge is an LGA about 160km (as the crow flies) from Maiduguri to the North-East. So what does he mean by Kala Balge area of Maiduguri?
2. "This morning, we received a report about the gathering of Boko Haram terrorists around Kala Balge area of Maiduguri. I coordinated and I directed that the air component of the operation should go and address the problem."
My Thoughts: Maj. Gen. Lucky Irabor claims "a report" was received in the morning. From whom may we ask? How credible was the source of info? Was the info reviewed and verified for correctness as is usually the military practice? Maj. Gen. Lucky Irabor apparently gave his press briefing that same day the "report" was received indicating that a quick military intervention was ordered. What effort did the Nigerian Military take to verify the authenticity of the "report" that was received knowing fully well that a military strike on a well-known, well-mapped Nigerian Community WOULD DEFINITELY LEAD TO MASSIVE COLLATERAL DAMAGE (DEATH OF INNOCENT CIVILIANS)???
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3. "I am yet to get the number of casualties of civilians killed, but two soldiers were also affected."
ReplyDeleteMy Thoughts: There is a lot of INCONSISTENCY with this statement and the headline "Nigerian military jet accidentally kills over 50 civilians & humanitarian aid workers in Borno settlement." My suspicion is that we might just have a much higher death rate in the hundreds. If a community of 60,000 people was subjected to massive aerial bombardment as we saw during the Nigerian Civil War, then the number 50 would be a tip of the iceberg. A sinister number is being concealed. In the event of a military assault on insurgents even in a civilian community, A SURGICAL AIR STRIKE (a selective air strike that targets the insurgents ONLY) is what is usually ordered and NOT WHOLESALE AERIAL BOMBARDMENT.
4. "I coordinated and I directed that the air component of the operation should go and address the problem."
My Thoughts: EVERYTHING IS WRONG WITH THIS STATEMENT. Maj. Gen. Lucky Irabor is the Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole. He is responsible for all military deployments against the insurgency be it land, sea, or air. For him to suddenly start emphasizing that he directed "the air component of the operation" shows that something isnt just right. To order a military assault on a civilian population within the territorial boundaries of a country (CITIZENS OF A COUNTRY), even if there exists pockets of insurgency, will require a much higher command, beyond Maj. Gen. Lucky Irabor. In military practice, not even the Chief of General Staff or Chairman Joint Chief of Staff (in the USA) can order such a strike. My submission here is that Maj. Gen. Lucky Irabor is being presented as the "fall guy." He is being made to take the rap; take full responsibility for A VERY BAD DECISION THAT HAS BEEN MADE!
5. It is interesting to note that this news release coincides with the recent visit of members of #BringBackOurGirls to "Sambisa Forest." I find it a bit amusing that the final party for the much publicized trip to Sambisa Forest did not have any of the serving Service Chiefs as originally claimed by the Ministry of Information. My thinking is that the timing for this press release is deliberate. The death of members of Medicines Sans Frontiers and some staff of International Committee of Red Cross(ICRC) is suspicious. Could the air strike that has killed SO MANY CIVILIANS have been ordered in order to conceal some info that was slowly unraveling, about to be exposed?
https://www.google.com.ng/maps/dir/Kala,+Borno/Maiduguri/@12.0833304,14.4657097,687m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m13!4m12!1m5!1m1!1s0x111ba2c1ee47f45f:0xa6fe5b7591ae8c2b!2m2!1d14.4679629!2d12.0817769!1m5!1m1!1s0x11049f4b9b52795b:0x63933a66a7b20361!2m2!1d13.1509672!2d11.8310981
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kala/Balge
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sooooo sad
ReplyDeleteSad tale!!!
ReplyDelete