Army drone strike kills at least 85 civilians

Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Tuesday ordered an investigation.

It is one of the deadliest military bombings in Nigeria’s history. An army drone strike killed at least 85 civilians celebrating a Muslim religious festival on Sunday in the northwestern village of Tudun Biri, the National Emergency Management Agency said ( Nema), Monday December 4, citing “information from local authorities”. Nema said 66 other people were being treated in hospital.

According to the state security commissioner, the army said it had “inadvertently affected community members” while carrying out a routine mission against rebels. However, the military did not provide a report.

A displaced persons camp bombed in 2017

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Tuesday ordered an investigation. In a press release, he mentioned an event “very unhappy, disturbing and painful, and expresses his indignation and sorrow”. Bola Ahmed Tinubu has made the fight against insecurity one of his priorities since coming to power in May.

Civilians have already been victims of bombings by the Nigerian army in the past. In January 2017, at least 112 people were killed when a fighter jet struck a camp housing 40,000 displaced people. The Nigerian army had claimed in a report that the bombing was due to “lack of appropriate marking of the area”.

Gangs and bandit groups have been terrorizing parts of northwest Nigeria for several years, carrying out raids on villages to kidnap residents in exchange for ransom. In total, the conflict has caused more than 40,000 victims and 2 million displaced people since 2009.