By Linus Aleke
The Nigerian Military on Monday said, that it is already carrying out a thorough investigation into the alleged bombing of the wrong target, which killed seven teenagers, and wounded five others.
The airstrike which was originally targeting terrorist fighters in the area also wounded no fewer than five soldiers in the area.
A military source who spoke to ThisNigeria exclusively said that the military is not in a hurry to make a public statement on the tragic event.
He said: “We are not certain of what actually happened, so we don’t have any comment to make at the moment until we get all the facts on the ground but it is going to be very soon”.
The military source added that Niger and Nigeria have a very strong cultural and diplomatic tie, saying “we are engaged in several security arrangements which has been a win-win for us”
He said: “we don’t want to rush into making any statement until we get all the facts on the ground. We are not in a rush to comment on the matter.
We are carrying out a very thorough investigation to ascertain what happened, untill it is conclusive we would not make public comment on this.
“We are in touch with our counterpart in the Niger Republic, and we are sharing information to ascertain what went wrong. We are not going to make any statement that we have to recant tomorrow. Between now and tomorrow morning things would be clearer,” he concluded.
When contacted, the Director of Public Relations and Information, Nigerian Air Force (NAF), Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet declined to comment on the issue.
National dailies on Monday reported that an airstrike by the Nigerian Air Force targeting ‘bandits’ killed seven children and wounded five others by mistake in the Niger Republic.
A local governor told AFP on Sunday that there was a mistake with the Nigerian strikes on the border that resulted in victims on our territory in the village of Nachade on Friday, said Chaibou Aboubacar, the governor of the Maradi region.
“The victims are 12 children, seven of them dead and five wounded,” the governor further disclosed.
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Recall that in 2021, a military jet that came to repel an attack by Boko Haram dropped a bomb that landed in a compound where civilians were having child christening.
A fighter jet also on a mission against Boko Haram extremists in April 2021 mistakenly bombed men of the Nigerian Army, killing over 20 officers.
“The soldiers who were reinforced from Ngandu village were said to be on their way to Mainok, headquarters of the Kaga Local Government Area of Borno state which was under attack by militants from the Islamic State-backed faction of Boko Haram, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), formerly known as Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah Wa’l-Jihād,” an online medium said.
It continued, “In June 2021, an offensive aerial bombardment the NAF Alpha jet carried out around Genu town in Niger State resulted in the killing of some wedding guests”.
