237 people buried in Rann – LG Boss says

The Chairman of Kala Balge Local government in Borno State, Alhaji Babagana Malarima has said 237 people, mostly children, have been buried following the accidental airstrike on the internally displaced persons camp at Rann, headquarters of the Kala Balge LGA, last week.

Babagana stated this while responding to Daily Trust reporter who was on the entourage of the NAF Investigation Panel Committee to Rann on Sunday. He said 89 injured people had been flown to the state capital Maiduguri.

“We had buried 234 people killed by the airstrike, that’s the figure my people who buried the dead victims told me, but we lost two others on Friday (January 20) while one person died on Sunday, so the total we have is 237 people killed, mostly children,” he explained, adding, “125 people were injured, about 40 people with light injuries are currently receiving treatment in Rann, others were airlifted to Maiduguri.”

The Commanding Officers of 3 Battalion Nigeria Army Rann, Lt. Col Paul Omofe told the Investigation Committee Panel led by Air Vice Marshal Salihu Bala-Ribah who visited Rann that the airstrike was unintentional, pointing out that the Air Force had been their backbone since the recaptur of Rann from Boko Haram because of bad terrain.

The Committee led by Chief of Standards and Evaluation, NAF, AVM SB Ribah and its Committee members went to the scene of the airstrikes, where they condoled with the people and addressed the villagers on their mission, telling them that the Chief of Air Staff had set up his committee to investigate the incident and recommend ways to forestall future occurrence.