Calls for resignation of Chief of Army Staff thicken following deadly Kaduna drone strike

The chairman of the Senate Committee on Army, Senator Abdulaziz Yar’Adua, has downplayed the sudden calls for the resignation of the Chief of Army Staff over the accidental drone attack that killed dozens of civilians in Kaduna State.

He pointed out that the unfortunate attack was not enough of a reason to warrant the resignation of Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja.

The senator, who said this while appearing on Channels Television, was reacting to the Northern Elders Forum’s call for the resignation of the military chief after the incident.

He highlighted the need for the Muslim community in Kaduna to carry the state government along ahead of an event of such magnitude so that security can be provided to prevent the occurrence of the mishap.

At least 85 civilians were killed when an army drone attack mistakenly targeted a Mawlid Nabiyy celebration gathering in Kaduna, northwest Nigeria.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered an investigation into the latest in a series of such deadly mistakes in Nigeria’s conflict zones.

Lt. Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, apologised for the drone strike during a visit to the village on Tuesday while stressing that the attack was carried out “based on the observation of some tactics usually employed by bandits.”

“Unfortunately, the reports we got revealed it was innocent civilians that the drone conducted a strike on,” Lagbaja said.

Atiku Abubakar, Nigeria’s former vice president and the main opposition presidential candidate in this year’s election, said in his reaction to the bloodshed that “the incidence of miscalculated airstrikes is assuming a worrisome dimension in the country.”