At least 85 civilians have been killed and dozens wounded in two separate air strikes during a religious celebration on Sunday evening in Kaduna state, north-west Nigeria.
According to state Governor, Uba Sani, civilians were “mistakenly killed” by a military drone “targeting terrorists and bandits”. An operation which has been described by the Defence Ministry as a “needless tragedy”.
He has also ordered an investigation into the “tragic incident” that happened when villagers from Tundun Biri gathered for a religious festival.
Defence spokesman Maj Gen Edward Buba in a statement on Tuesday said the airstrike was based on credible intelligence about the presence of “terrorists” in the area.
The National Emergency Management Agency, Abuja in statement disclosed that the casualties ranged from children, women and the elderly.”
The Nigerian military has in the past been accused of causing civilian casualties while battling militia gangs, labelled as “terrorists” by government, in predominantly the north-western part of the country.
Nigeria has been largely identified as an Islamic state with a long-standing history of religious conflicts in the northwestern parts of the country.
Recent attacks in June, 2023 recorded the death of 8 farmers and 10 abducted by Islamic radicals in the Borno state in the northeastern of Nigeria.
The Islamic radicals including the Boko Haram in the northeast have also overstretched Nigeria’s security forces as they continue to battle other crises across the country, including continuing clashes between nomadic cattle herders and farming communities in northwest and central regions of the country.
