Sunday Okobi
An advocacy group, Concerned Professionals’ Congress (CPC), yesterday expressed regret over last Tuesday’s tragedy at the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in Rann, Kala Balge council area of Borno State where a Nigerian Air Force fighter jet mistakenly bombed, killing no fewer than 50 persons and injuring many others including some humanitarian aid workers.
Noting that the successes recorded so far by the Nigerian military in the battle against terrorism and insurgency in the North-east were achieved due to the collective prayers, support and solidarity of the Nigerian people, CPC stressed the need for more special prayers across the regional and religious divides against possible tactical errors arising from the operations of the troops that may resort to similar tragedies in the future.
The group Coordinator, Tukur Musa Tilde and the Chief Media Strategist, Emeka Nwapa, in a joint statement made available to THISDAY expressed deep regret over the casualties of the ill-fated air strike and joined the calls from many quarters for a detailed and thorough investigation into the sad incident to avoid a future recurrence, saying that the news of the accidental bombing came as a shock.
The advocacy group promoting peace, good governance and democracy in the country, noted with pleasure the pro-active and sincere approach with which the military authorities handled the fallouts of the regrettable incident, pointing out that “it was re-assuring that the event was met with rapid and unprecedented responsiveness by all relevant local and international aid agencies and institutions.”
Reiterating its call for peace in the country, CPC said it welcomed the overwhelming consensus among many Nigerians that though the incident was avoidable, human errors are inevitable especially in counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism air operations where adequate care and caution govern precision-based strikes especially to avert collateral damage.
‘’This is why we believe that members of our skillful and professional Armed Forces of Nigeria that had done us proud abroad are globally reputed for efficiency and gallantry. This sad incident gives us cause for worry because of the casualties involved even if a soul was lost.
“It bothers our military too. Some have even argued that the much-reputed American air fighting Force once bombed children at an Afghan hospital in error. We are Nigerians, not Americans. Our people mean so much to us, we don’t want to lose any life and many Nigerians have said that much,” Tilde said.
The group further observed that the nation’s present military high command had always made inter-agency synergy and collaboration as one of its abiding principles, pointing out that time had come for all security agencies to plug into such approach that guarantees operational efficiency exemplified in the string of successes which the nation recorded recently in its anti-insurgency battle.
‘’We wish to reiterate that after all necessary operational measures have been made, the importance of our collective prayers for our troops cannot be over-emphasised. A praying nation is a winning nation. This sad incident is a wake-up call on all Nigerians and men, women, children of goodwill to remember our troops in their daily prayers,” he said.
It said the fall of Sambisa was a big blow to the evil sponsors of terrorism in the Northeast, adding that it was the Nigerian military’s decisive move at wiping out the sad image of the sect in the nation’s memory.
Tilde observed that only a military that has the entire nation behind it can perform exceedingly well, noting that while the military’s duty is to fight the battle, it is actually the citizens of the nation that wage and win the war through their prayers, support and solidarity.
