One of the Internally Displaced Persons in
Rann, Borno State, who survived the accidental bombing of the camp on
Tuesday, said the read more......
Nigerian Air Force fighter jet involved in the
operation dropped bombs on the camp three times.
Abdulwahab Adam,
who spoke to The PUNCH at the General Hospital, Maiduguri, the Borno
State capital, where he was receiving treatment for injuries sustained
in the attack, on Wednesday, said,
“The bombs were dropped on us thrice and there was no way a mistake could be made thrice.
Tragedy
had struck on Tuesday, when a fighter jet involved in the
counter-insurgency operation in the North-East, fired at aid workers,
soldiers and displaced persons in error, killing no fewer than 100
persons on the ground.
Aid workers confirmed to have been killed
in the bombing included the officials of Doctors Without Borders
(Medecins Sans Frontieres), International Committee of the Red Cross and
some refugees.
“There was nothing accidental about the attack and it could not be referred to as a mistake.
“The
Federal Government should stop telling Nigerians that it was a mistake;
for this was not. It was nothing but an unprovoked attack on a civilian
populace.
“This was not a new camp and the attack happened when people queued up to receive humanitarian materials.
Another victim of the attack, Abba Yusuf, believed the NAF had to explain what led to the attack.
He added,
“This
is the same force that told the world that they did not drop the bomb
on insurgents in the Sambisa Forest because of human shield but weeks
later, dropped bombs on unarmed civilians in an IDPs’ camp.
“Could
they have been blindfolded to know that we were in a queue and we were
unarmed or could they have mistaken the IDPs camp for the haven of
insurgents?”
One of the people, who trooped to the hospital to visit
their relatives who sustained injuries in the attack, Yakubu Hassan,
said:
This is really unfortunate. I came to the hospital to get
information about my brother, Babangida Hassan, only to be told that he
was killed in the attack.”
He said his brother was a 35 year-old ad-hoc worker with the Nigerian Red Cross.
He asked President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure that the “negligent” pilot was brought to book.
He lamented that the deceased left behind two wives and over 30 other dependants.
“How do you want them to be taken care of now?” he asked.
Meanwhile,
the Federal Government dispatched a high-powered delegation, led by the
Chief of Staff to the President, Alhaji Abba Kyari, to condole with the
government and people of Borno State and the international aid agencies
affected in the attack.
In the delegation were two ministers –
retired Brig. Gen. Mansur Dan Ali (Defence); and Alhaji Lai Mohammed
(Information and Culture).
Others are the Chief of Defence Staff,
Gen. Abayomi Olonisakin; the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur
Buratai; and the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar.
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