Laleye Dipo in Minna
Former military President, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, has described as “unfortunate” (rtd), last Tuesdays accidental air strike at the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in Rann, Borno State, during which over 50 people lost their lives and over 200 were injured.
Babangida in a statement released to journalists through his media office, said he was saddened by the development.
The former military president who described the “unfortunate incident as a case of mistaken identity.” commiserated with the government and people of Borno State and the families of those that died in the unfortunate incident.
“My heart bleeds on the sight of the horrifying pictures of burnt bodies of innocent people at Rann IDP camp and the bombing at the university of Maiduguri mosque” the former military president was quoted as saying in the statement.
He also prayed for the quick recovery of those injured in both the air strike and the mosque bomb blast and admonished officers and men of the Nigeria Air Force and other military men fighting insurgency in the North-east “to adopt precision approach on enemy’s targets and introduce new tactics in the fight against Boko Haram.”
He also advocated a synergy between military and civilian vigilante groups as well as the people of the North-east to wipe out the remnants of Boko Haram from their hideouts.
Babangida, however, reminded Nigerians that the ugly incident was not peculiar to Nigeria, saying “this ugly incident happens in conflict zones across the world even among the most sophisticated military alliances like the cases of friendly fires between the United States military and its allies in Afghanistan.
