Two Nigerian soldiers will face a court martial over a deadly drone strike that killed at least 85 civilians in the city of Kaduna, the Defence Headquarters said in a statement on Thursday. It was one of the country’s worst military errors.
Residents of a community in northwest Kaduna were celebrating a Muslim festival on December 3 last year when a drone hit them, killing scores instantly.
The Nigerian military admitted the error, saying it had mistaken the gathering as armed criminal gangs, and issued an apology.
Defence spokesperson Major General Edward Buba said the strike shouldn’t have happened and the hopes there will never be a re-occurrence.
“It is hoped that there would be no repeat of strikes on non-combatants in ongoing operations,” it said. “The military will take extra precautions in the future to ensure that non-combatants are safe.”
“The military has conducted a painstaking investigation into the incident and has initiated disciplinary action against those culpable,” he said.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had ordered a thorough investigation in the aftermath of the incident last December.