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The Nigerian Air Force (NAF), has expressed regret over the misdirected bombing of Rann Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp early this year.
The incident resulted in the death of over 100 people. The NAF’s apology is coming less than a week after the Defence Headquarters (DHQ),had blamed the incident on the failure of the concerned authority to designate the IDPs camp as such.
The Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Olatokunbo Adesanjo, in a statement Monday night, said: “Sequel to the official statement by the Defence Headquarters on the unfortunate Rann bombing incident on 17 January 2017, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), being the service directly involved in the incident, would once more like to convey its deepest regrets to all concerned. It is important to reiterate that no NAF pilot leaves his base with the intention of going to kill the same set of people that he greatly sacrifices day and night to protect.
“The unfortunate bombing of innocent civilians in Rann, Borno State has, therefore, remained a traumatic incident for the NAF pilots involved and indeed, the entire NAF community.
“The NAF and other stakeholders are already taking necessary measures to prevent a recurrence of the unfortunate incident. For instance, they are engaging humanitarian organisations in the North East with a view to understanding their programmes and locations of such programmes in order to prevent gaps in communication.
“Meanwhile, the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, has directed appropriate NAF officials to intensify humanitarian intervention schemes for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) at Rann and other parts of the North East.
“For example, there is an ongoing NAF medical outreach programme during which over 164 IDPs from various IDP camps in Borno State have undergone free surgical operations in the NAF medical facility in Maiduguri.”
The incident resulted in the death of over 100 people. The NAF’s apology is coming less than a week after the Defence Headquarters (DHQ),had blamed the incident on the failure of the concerned authority to designate the IDPs camp as such.
The Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Olatokunbo Adesanjo, in a statement Monday night, said: “Sequel to the official statement by the Defence Headquarters on the unfortunate Rann bombing incident on 17 January 2017, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), being the service directly involved in the incident, would once more like to convey its deepest regrets to all concerned. It is important to reiterate that no NAF pilot leaves his base with the intention of going to kill the same set of people that he greatly sacrifices day and night to protect.
“The unfortunate bombing of innocent civilians in Rann, Borno State has, therefore, remained a traumatic incident for the NAF pilots involved and indeed, the entire NAF community.
“The NAF and other stakeholders are already taking necessary measures to prevent a recurrence of the unfortunate incident. For instance, they are engaging humanitarian organisations in the North East with a view to understanding their programmes and locations of such programmes in order to prevent gaps in communication.
“Meanwhile, the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, has directed appropriate NAF officials to intensify humanitarian intervention schemes for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) at Rann and other parts of the North East.
“For example, there is an ongoing NAF medical outreach programme during which over 164 IDPs from various IDP camps in Borno State have undergone free surgical operations in the NAF medical facility in Maiduguri.”
