The Defence Headquarters has responded to the Rann bombing which took place at the Internally Displaced Persons’ (IDPs) camp in January 2017.
According to the defence spokesman, Major General John Eneche, the lack of appropriate marking of the IDP camp was responsible for the accidental bombing in Rann, a community in Kalabalge Local Government Area of Borno State.
He told journalists in Abuja on Friday that an IDP camp was not supposed to be built in that community, saying it was not marked on the operational map.
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Major General Eneche stressed further that because it was not marked an IDP camp, it appeared to be a place for terrorist activities when a mass movement was noticed via satellite.
He added that the various boards of inquiry into the incidence have recommended that all locations should be marked appropriately on the operational map.
The panels also asked all agencies participating in the operations in North East Nigeria to share timely information such as locations of IDP camps.
According to them, this would help to prevent confusion for other participants in the operations, especially the military.
Rann Bombing: Buhari Warns Against Re-occurrence
The clarification from the Defence Headquarters came six months after a military plane accidentally dropped a bomb inside a settlement in Borno State, killing several people.
A spokesman for the military, who confirmed the incident to Channels Television on January 17, acknowledged that the incident was an error deeply regretted by the military.
He, however, claimed that the incident did not occur in an IDP camp as reported in some quarters but a settlement said to be occupied by civilians.
He explained that soldiers had gotten information of the movement of Boko Haram members in the Kalabalge area and deployed ground troops and air cover to tackle the terrorists.
According to him, it was the air support that mistakenly dropped the bomb.
President Muhammadu Buhari had sent his condolence message to victims of the misfire and the Borno State government.
The Chief of Staff to the president, Abba Kyari, conveyed the president’s message when he led a Federal Government delegation on a condolence visit to the state.
President Buhari, however, warned the military to ensure that adequate measures were put in place to prevent any reoccurrence of such incident.
