Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Christopher Musa has said the report relating to the Kaduna bombing last month will be completed soon and made public.
A few weeks ago, 85 deaths and numerous injuries were recorded after an accidental airstrike in Igabi Local government,Kaduna North-West Nigeria.
Following the Kaduna bombing, President Bola Tinubu directed the CDS to conduct an inquiry, with an anticipated outcome in view.
“Very well. It [report] is going to be made public. The Federal Government is already in charge, it is working on it, and I am sure the announcement will come very soon,” he said in a TV interview on Tuesday morning.
The defence chief also assured that anyone found culpable in the mishap would face the law.
“The Armed Forces of Nigeria is solidly behind the Federal Government and Nigeria. Our mandate is to defend democracy and we will continue to do that. So, nobody should have any fear. We would make amends after the committee [to probe the matter] has come up [with its report]. Anybody who is found culpable will face the music,” he added.
The CDS said: “We are sincere, we are fair, we are impartial. We want to know what actually happened so that we can make amends. I can assure you that nothing will be swept under the carpet”.
While apologising for the Kaduna bombing, he said the military “feel extremely very bad about it” and that the “incident was never deliberate”.
“Anytime we have mistakes, we take ownership and we feel extremely very bad about it especially when we lose our troops in war,” General Christopher further called on Nigerians to continue to support the troops to win the battle against banditry and other crimes in the country.
“We just want Nigerians to understand that the incident was never deliberate. We would never deliberately target our citizens. Our mandate is to protect innocent Nigerians and we will continue to do that.”
“We should not, by our actions or utterances, demoralise our troops. These guys stay awake so you can sleep,” the CDS said.
“It is easier for you to say they made a mistake; they’re not doing well. If they pull out of these locations, what happens? We will not even have a country.”