Ayodele Fayose, the governor of Ekiti State, has commiserated with families of the victims of Tuesday’s “accidental” air strike by men of the Nigerian Air Force of ‘Operation Lafiya Dole’ in the Rann Internally Displaced People (IDP) camp in Borno State.
Médecins Sans Frontières, MSF, an international humanitarian non-governmental organisation which provided medical care for people in war-torn regions, says at least 120 people were wounded and 52 killed in the incident. The organisation strongly condemned the bombing in a set of tweets.
Governor Fayose, who said it was strange that the military could “mistakenly” bomb an IDP camp that it created and aware of the location, called for thorough investigation by both the military authority and the international community to ascertain what actually happened.
He chided President Muhammadu Buhari for jumping into conclusion that the airstrike was a mistake, saying; “by saying it was accidental, the president already foreclosed investigation, which he ought to have ordered before jumping into conclusion.”
In a release issued on Wednesday, January 18, 2017 by a spokesperson, Lere Olayinka, Governor Fayose maintained that “it is obvious that the federal government is still deceiving Nigerians on its handling of the Boko Haram insurgency because it is strange that the same Boko Haram that they said had been defeated were the ones they claimed the military wanted to attack with fighter jet.”
“I sympathise with those hapless Nigerians who escaped death from the hands of Boko Haram insurgents only to be killed by the same authority that should be protecting them. May Allah (SWT) forgive their sins and grant them Al Jannah Fidau.
“It is also my prayers that the Almighty Allah (SWT) will console their families and grant them the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.
“I also call on all necessary authorities in Nigeria as well as the international community to investigate the incident with a view to unravelling whether or not the airstrike was a mistake. And if it was indeed a mistake, what led to it must be unravelled,” the governor said.
While maintaining that Nigerians were not being told the truth about the Boko Haram insurgency, Governor Fayose said; “In as much as they are making efforts, which must be commended, the federal government must stop deceiving Nigerians.
“First, they said they have defeated Boko Haram technically. Later they claimed Boko Haram flag was captured and went on to display the ‘captured flag’ at the Presidency. But look at what we are witnessing now. Look at bombings and attacks here and there by the same Boko Haram they told us had been defeated.
“If indeed Boko Haram had been defeated, what was the need for the air strike that led to the killing of those Nigerians in the IDP camp yesterday?
“I can’t join them to lie. I say the truth and stand by it. Over 800 people were killed in Southern Kaduna, but what are they telling Nigerians? They are even saying it with glee that just 204 people were killed and not over 800 as claimed by the Catholic Archdiocese of Kafanchan. Even if those killed in Southern Kaduna were 204, is that not enough a tragedy that should bother the federal government?
“At this period, what Nigerians deserve from government at all levels is the truth and it is only the truth the can set the Nigeria and its people free from all these calamities.”
