President Bola Ahmed Tinubu 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.
It further reads, “President Bola Tinubu sympathises with the families of victims, the people and government of Kaduna State over the bombing mishap in a village at Tundun Biri in Igabi Local Government Area of the state.
“President Tinubu describes the incident as very unfortunate, disturbing, and painful, expressing indignation and grief over the tragic loss of Nigerian lives.”
Widespread outrage followed the mistargeted bombing of Tudun Biri in the Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State by the Nigerian Army on Sunday, which left no fewer than 85 villagers dead.
Community and religious leaders said Sunday’s faux pas was “harrowing, painful,” citing repeated cases of military air raids killing innocent people.
Responding to the incident, President Tinubu directed “a thorough and full-fledged investigation and calls for calm while the authorities look diligently into” this and similar mishaps that have claimed 386 lives since 2014.
He also directed “swift and comprehensive medical attention for surviving victims while praying for the repose of the souls of the deceased.”
