The bombing of the Internally Displaced Persons, IDP, camp in Rann, Borno State on Tuesday was the second such error in less than two weeks by the military resulting in casualties, the icirnigeria.org can authoritatively report.

A military fighter jet dropped bombs on the IDP camp in Rann, in Kala-balge Local Government Area where thousands of displaced persons are housed, killing at least 50 persons and leaving about 200 others injured.

Spokesman of the Nigerian Defence Headquarters, Rabe Abubakar, said the bombing was an error and that it occurred after troops received intelligence of movement by Boko Haram insurgents in the area.

However, a reliable military source told the icirnigeria.org that there had been an earlier incident in another IDP camp in Gamboru Ngala, where more than 30 IDPs were also mistakenly killed by Nigerian troops.

It was learnt that troops who had left their base in Marte, in Borno state on patrol and clearance mission mistakenly killed the displaced persons at a location close to the IDP camp in Gamboru Ngala where they were resident.

[b]According to the source, the troops had left Marte for clearance and patrol operations without telling their colleagues stationed at the IDP camp in Gamboru Ngala. This particular IDP camp is in the control of Nigerian military whose soldiers provide security there due to Boko Haram activity in the area.

However, soldiers at the Gamboru Ngala camp had authorised the displaced persons to go into the nearby bush to get firewood with which to prepare their meals.

It was gathered that the IDPs usually get raw food from the authorities and have to cook their food themselves.

Each IDP, it was learnt, was given a tally by the soldiers so that they would be easily identified when they returned to the camp.

However, as they were foraging in the bush for firewood not too far from the camp, the soldiers from Marte happened upon them and, suspecting that they were Boko Haram insurgents, opened fire on the hapless IDPs, reportedly killing more than 30 of them.

The IDPs were said to comprise men, women and children and they had gone looking for firewood not only to cook but also to sell in the IDP camp.

Upon hearing gunshots, the soldiers at the IDP camp in Gamboru Ngala are said to have traced the source and discovered that their colleagues had killed the IDPs.

It was gathered that two of the IDPs survived the attack and recounted what happened. The two, who sustained gunshot injuries, said that they pretended to be dead and only stood up when the soldiers from Gamboru Ngala arrived at the scene of the incident.[/b]

The soldiers were angry at their colleagues and questioned how the incident could have occurred as it was still daylight when the troops should have seen clearly that the people in the bush were not insurgents.

The military has not made public anything about the Gamboru Ngala incident and it is not known if any action has been taken about it.

The icirnigeria.org could not get the military to react to or confirm our findings, as the spokesperson of the army, Sani Usman, was unreachable by phone. He also did not respond to enquiries sent by WhatsApp as at the time of filing this report

Geniro:
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