Kaduna ‘Accidental’ Bombing and Matters Arising

Kaduna ‘Accidental’ Bombing and Matters Arising

By MUKHTAR Ya’u Madobi

It may have passed for now, but its memory will forever remain indelible in the minds of the bereaved families, friends, relatives and teeming well-wishers.

I am referring to the tragic incident of Tudun Biri village in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State where scores of Maulud celebrants were ‘accidentally’ bombed by a military drone operated by the Nigerian Army (NA).

The unfortunate incidents attracted strong condemnations from different quarters especially looking at the fatalities figure including scores who are still under medical treatment due to various degrees of injuries sustained.

In addition to that, what even generated more censure is the recurring happenings of these incidents of this nature over the recent years by the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN).

According to a report published by Daily Trust Saturday, December 9th, 2023, no fewer than 416 civilians’ lives were wasted by accidental airstrikes of the Nigerian military within the space of 9 years in 16 communities located in the northern region of the country alone.

The dates of incidents consisted of only cases that were reported by media between 2014 and 2023 while others might have not caught attention due to remoteness of the locations where they happened.

It has become tradition that whenever this tragedy occurs, the excuse being offered by the military is that the air components are in hot pursuit of the terrorists while responding to ‘actionable intelligence.’ But, truth to be told, these incidents and excuses are one too many.

It is obvious that intelligence gathering and information sharing has proven to be a vital weapon in foiling security breaches while at the same time enhancing national security. Courtesy of intelligence, Nigerian military and other security agencies have been able to avert terrorists plots to cause public disorders in many instances.

However, a missing link in the chain of intelligence gathered either by authorities or individuals and subsequently passed down to security forces for action may likely result in the occurrence of unwanted and undesirable results – just like the one that ensued in Tudun Biri.

Thus, the importance and the need to verify intelligence beyond any doubt by military and other security forces before acting on it can never be overemphasized especially at this era of emerging security threats where terrorists resort to blending into civilian population so as to evade decimation.

Even in the journalism profession, every person would of course like to be recognized as the first person to report a breaking news story to the public, but in reality, getting facts about that news is more important than publicizing it prematurely without requisite ingredients. Imagine the kind of damage that can be done to that media organization if that story appeared to be a mere false.

Likewise, security personnel should always not rush in launching operations especially aerial bombardments without thorough verification of information about the movement of the terrorists so as to avoid occasional killing of innocent civilians.

Military intelligence is a discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions while in conducting operations especially in the battle fields.

The intelligence has to undergo several stages of processing which start right from the point of collection down to analysis, filing and then dissemination to different decision-makers through secured databases.

At this era of technological advancement occasioned by the ongoing fourth industrial revolution where automation using Robotics and Artificial Intelligence (AI) is thriving, it honestly didn’t sound right for the mighty military of Nigeria- the Giant of Africa, to keep on lacking precision while striking a target.

It is therefore high time for the Military High Command under the leadership of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Christopher Gwabin Musa to re-invest so much in developing military technology coupled with necessary hardwares in order to upgrade its status to suit the current strategy of modern technological warfare.

So many analysts, pundits, security and tech experts have voiced out their submissions on how best to avoid this kind of situation by the Nigerian Military.

Among them is the immediate past minister of communications and digital economy, Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, who is renowned tech savvy and scholar of good reputation.

According to the article titled; “Pantami Advises Nigerian Military on AI Algorithms for Precision Airstrikes” which was published on PRNigeria, Pantami noted that the disastrous incident of Tudun Biri could have been avoided if the army had incorporated AI with its operations.

According to him, after observing the aerial pictures of the bombed gathering of religious worshippers, shared by the military, there is a “huge gap” in the army’s coordination of data.  He argued that the Nigerian Armed Forces can achieve almost 100% accuracy in their operations with the application of AI or machine learning.

“Firstly, this kind of mistake or negligence can easily be avoided in this era of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) or Industry 4.0 that we are witnessing through the use of emerging technologies or disruptive technologies.

“The AI algorithm can effectively be used to analyse sensor data to identify, evaluate, and classify targets with almost impeccable precision and accuracy. It is also strongly recommended that when you are not 100% sure of the target to withhold the striking.” Pantami added.

The former minister said the deployment of AI would also help in managing drones to recognise specific objects, such as criminals’ facilities, locations, or vehicles, and differentiate them from innocent people or civilians.

Furthermore, Pantami recognized that operating military drones requires advanced training and high-level demonstration of professionalism and thus, advocated for special technical training for the drone pilots also known as remote pilots which is key to the success of the operations being conducted by the drones.

Apart from that, there is also insinuation that the Nigerian military does not have full control over deployment of its advanced air assets, including drones and most especially Super Tucanos. The United States is said to have ‘veto’ over where, when and how Nigeria can use “its” Tucanos to fight terrorists in the country.

We are still not oblivious to the fact that there are so many localities that are  controlled either by  bandits or terrorists, but there are still civilian populations living under their yoke. Therefore the Nigerian military cannot afford to solemnly rely on Western-controlled drones and intel outsourcing to get credible information on local terrains in Nigeria.

It is believed that with adequate technology, modern equipment and technical training, the Nigerian Military through the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), under the watch of Chief of Defence Intelligence (CDI) Major General EAP Emmanuel Undiandeye, has more than capacity to gather and harvest  the much needed information and transmit  to security forces in order to decimate the terrorists.

All in all, with credible intelligence, highly advanced and well trained drone pilots, these kinds of awful occurrences will surely be avoided and forgotten in our annals of war against terrorists in Nigeria.

MUKHTAR is the author of “National Security Strategies: A Young Writer’s Perspectives,” and is a staff writer with the Emergency Digest.