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COLLATERAL DAMAGE IN NIGERIA – BEACON CONSULTING CALLS FOR ACTION TO REDUCE CIVILIAN DEATHS IN ARMED RECONNAISSANCE

Katsina City News
08 Dec, 2023
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PRESS RELEASE

DECEMBER 8, 2023

On December 3, 2023, a military reconnaissance operation deployed a Baykar Bayraktar TB2

medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) from Kaduna to target a non-state armed group suspected to be armed bandits. However, inadequate confirmatory intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (SR), and possible errors in targeting resulted in the deaths of over 100 villagers in the Tudun Biri community of lgabi Local Government Area, Kaduna State.

On December 5, 2023, the Nigerian Army (NA) admitted responsibility, with the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) ordering a thorough inquiry into the incident to identify areas of deficiency that led to the inadvertent disaster. The Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration expressed its regrets and condolences to the affected community and announced plans to conduct a thorough and

full-fledged investigation. UN human rights public information officer Seif Magango expressed his disapproval of the Nigeriarn Army strike and called for future measures to protect civilians and infrastructure. The Kaduna State Government promised to compensate the victims and conduct an investigation to avoid a recurrence.