Air Force bomb misfire: 54 victims stabilized in Maiduguri hospitals … Deputy Governor, Rep at Rann for evacuation‎, assessment … Shettima coordinates aftermath, receives Presidential delegation … It is tragic, highly regrettable – T.Y Danjuma

‎54 victims of the Military bomb misfire in Rann, headquarters of Kala-Balge, are currently hospitalized in three hospitals located in Maiduguri with all of them in stable conditions, the Borno State Commissioner for Health, Dr Haruna Mshelia said in an update released on Wednesday.‎

Dr Mshelia said of the 54 victims, ‎32 persons are receiving treatment at the State Specialist Hospital; 16 victims are being treated at 7th Division Military Hospital in Maimalari Barrack while six persons are hospitalized at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital.

The Commissioner said in a statement emailed to journalists from the Government House in Maiduguri,that all the 54 hospitalized victims are in stable conditions with medical experts from the State, humanitarian partners and the military attending to their health needs.

The Commissioner said it was still too early to give an accurate number of deaths because as at the time of issuing the update, evacuation of survivors was still ongoing using four helicopters provided by the United Nations and the Nigerian Air Force. Dr Mshelia also said that bodies were being recovered.

The Commissioner said humanitarian partners like the MSF, International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, the United Nations and different stakeholders have been extremely dedicated to the emergency evacuation and medical response. He also said Governor Kashim Shettima has since morning deployed his Deputy, Usman Mamman Durkwa and the House of Representatives member, representing Kala-Balge, Bama, Dikwa and Ngala federal constituency of Borno State, Mamman Nur Sheriff and the Assembly member among other officials to the scene of the incident at Rann, in order to assess the situation and supervise evacuation of victims to Maiduguri.

While the Deputy Governor was at Rann, Governor Shettima was scheduled to meet officials of the Nigerian Air Force to get a formal brief on the incident. The Governor also remained in Maiduguri to coordinate responses from different quarters and ensure all appropriate steps were being taken. ‎ ‎

While in Maiduguri, Governor Shettima received a Presidential delegation led by the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari who came alongside the Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan Ali, Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Gabriel Olanishakin, Chief Army Staff, Lt-Gen TY Buratai, Chief of Air Staff, Sadiq Abubakar and other military officers from within and outside Borno State.

“The President and C-in-C is very distressed about the incident, and has instructed us to embark on this condolence visit. This kind of incident happens occasionally in war, especially when dealing with terrorists like Boko Haram who arbitrarily and in cowardly fashion hide among civilians. The President deeply regrets the incident. The Armed forces will take extra care to ensure this doesn’t happen again. The Federal Government is working with the State, Local, and International partners to ensure speedy resettlement of IDPs,” the Chief of Staff said.

He also said: “We are in Maiduguri at the instance of President Buhari to come over and condole the people and government of Borno State over the unfortunate air strike accident that took place at Rann town IDPs Camp Tuesday leaving many innocent people dead and others wounded.”

He said the President had urged all Nigerians to join him in prayers for the repose of the souls of those that lost their lives and for quick recovery of those that were wounded.

He also assured that the Nigerian Armed forces will take care and ensure that such incidents do not happen again while praying for the souls of those killed and injured as well as for the return of peace to the state, region and country as a whole.

He said the federal government will take full responsibility for the medical treatment of all those wounded and receiving medical and surgical attention at the hospitals in Maiduguri and it’s environs.

Governor Shettima thanked the delegation for the visit, describing the incident as a painful price of war.

“It is a very sad tragedy, it is an unfortunate price of war. They often call it ‘friendly fire’ and it is as old as history of wars around the world. They are always unfortunate and going memory lane, we have had examples of friendly fires during the 1st and 2nd World Wars, ongoing conflicts in Afghanistan, Syria and other parts of the world. We pray this never happens again. I think ‎it is gratifying that nobody made any effort to hide anything or sweep things under carpet. In years gone by, people would have resorted to blame games but instead, responsibilities were accepted and focus was channeled towards evacuation, rehabilitation of victims and empathy for families and the entire people of Borno State. We pray that this crisis ends and we are determined to pick up the pieces of our lives as a people,” Shettima said.

In his reaction, the Chairman of the Presidential Committee on the North East Initiative (PCNI), General TY Danjuma (Rtd) described as tragic, the death of civilians that occurred due to the accidental bombing by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF). He said the monumental loss at the camp in Rann, was not only tragic but highly regrettable.

In a statement released by the PCNI ‘s Head of Media and Communications, Alkasim Abdulkadir, he expressed his heartfelt condolences to the people and government of Borno State. “Our thoughts and prayers are with IDP families, the International Committee of the Red Cross ICRC, Medicines Sans Frontiers MSF, Nigerian Red Cross NRC and other volunteers affected by the ill-fated incident”.
Danjuma further stated that the protection and stabilization of vulnerable people fleeing the Boko Haram conflict and also safe guarding the lives of aid workers bringing medical and relief items to IDP families remains the utmost concern of government and a thorough investigation will be carried out to avoid similar mishaps in the future.

Our correspondent reports that ‎‎following the unfortunate situation, Governor Shettima had ordered the State Ministry of Health to set up emergency medical response teams and coordinate rehabilitation of victims.

The Governor had on Tuesday, received the news with shock and very deep concern and has remained in touch with Government officials at the local level in Kala-Balge while interfacing with humanitarian partners and other stakeholders and issuing directives for steps being taken at the State level.