‘Another bomb was dropped on those evacuating victims’- Gumi speaks on Kaduna drone attack

Kaduna State-based renowned Islamic Scholar, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, said that the Sunday’s bombing by the Nigerian Army using drone in Tudun Biri of Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State which claimed over 120 lives was intentional.

Innocent citizens, including women and children, were struck dead on Sunday night as they were celebrating Maulud while over 60 others were left injured in the community located in Igabi Local government area of the state.

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The scholar said it was wrong to target women and children, including the elderly during war, saying yet the military decided to do otherwise, thinking they were families of terrorists.

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Sheikh Gumi, who spoke while delivering his weekly lecture at the Sultan Bello Mosque, Kaduna, questioned that if the first bomb dropped on the people was a mistake as claimed, what of the second bomb that targeted those evacuating the bodies 30 minutes after as claimed by the villagers.

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According to him, it was God that exposed some of the atrocities committed by the military in the forest, saying he had been calling on the people that innocent villagers are victims of the security bombardments in the forest but nobody listened.

He said, “I kept telling you not to invite people who see war as a solution but people refused to listen. Here it’s now. War is never a joke because it affects everybody. I warned you on this but you keep saying they should be killed.

“It’s you that will be killed. That bomb was meant to target the families of some people so as to kill their children and wives. I have been to a village where women and children were massacred in a remote forest.

“Many people have been bombed. Nobody said anything until it came nearer to the city. I have been saying that whatever is between us, whether it is bandits or Boko Haram, there should be peaceful negotiation.”

Meanwhile, there is growing disquiet in the Nigerian Army and Nigeria Air Force, following the recent bombing of innocent citizens of Tudun Biri.

Credible sources told the Daily Trust that the air force was disappointed with the army for dispatching its unmanned drone that led to the ill-fated operation.

The Nigerian Army had since admitted responsibility for the bombing while explaining that the airstrikes were inadvertent and the operatives were targeting terrorists.

The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Taoheed Lagbaja had also visited the scene of the incident to commiserate with the district head, clerics and relatives of the victims, where he supported the victims with relief materials including cash reward of N10m.

However, days after the sad Tudun Biri incident, findings reveal that air troops attached to different operations across the theatres are grumbling over the incident, arguing that Nigerian Army’s attempt to include air operations in their activities in theatres depicts “lack of trust”.

It would be recalled that in September 2023, Nigerian Army revived its aviation unit with the possible procurement of 12 attack helicopters as approved by the President, Bola Tinubu.

The COAS had at the opening of the maiden Nigerian Army Aviation Seminar in Abuja, said the 12 MD 530F Cayuse attack helicopters would operationalize the Nigerian Army aviation unit, which was set up to improve ground troops’ agility, responsiveness, and efficacy during operations.

According to him, acquiring the helicopter would also contribute to the overall operational success of joint and coalition troops.

But when the Kaduna massacre happened on Sunday, the Nigeria Air Force quickly came out to dissociate itself from the incident, insisting that its officers had not carried out operations in the last 24 hours.

NAF, in a statement issued on Monday by its spokesman, Edward Gabkwet, an Air Commodore, berated those attributing the incident to its organisation, noting that it was not the only organisation operating combat armed drones in the North western region of Nigeria.

Meanwhile, expressing their frustrations, some visibly angry officers of NAF maintained that they (air troops) have more adequate training and equipment to carry out air operations “with precision” than many other services in the military.

“Every service or security agency has its dedicated role(s) even though all of us underwent the same training. The truth is, air troops are more conversant with air operations than any other troops whether in flying of drones or attack helicopters”, one of the NAF said.

Another NAF officer argued that air operations require a lot of technical know-how and intelligence gathering before someone could think of striking enemies.

He said, “Those who define roles for each of the services are not daft. The most important thing is for us to work together. Honestly, I don’t think army officers should delve into air operations.”

But some army officers argued that there was “no big deal” in flying drones to fight enemies, adding that this was not the first time they would be flying it (drones).

“The fact that we made a mistake this time around doesn’t mean we are not capable of flying a drone against enemies. We’re capable and we have the capabilities to fly it,” the army officer said.

A source conversant with officials in both the Army and the Air Force said what happened in Tudun Biri could have been avoided.

“Before dropping the bomb on the Maulud celebrants, some army officials actually hinted at some air force officials and they were cautioned on the grounds that the gathering did not seem to be that of terrorists.

“They told them (army) that terrorists don’t converge in large numbers within a community. Also, wherever you see terrorists or bandits coming together, you will see many motorcycles. There were no motorcycles at the site of the Maulud on that day…It was really unfortunate,” the source said.