Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose has commiserated with families of the victims of yesterday’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 while describing as strange that the military could “mistakenly” bomb an IDP camp that it created and aware of the location.
He thereby called for thorough investigation by both the military authority and the international community to ascertain what actually happened.
In a release issued on Wednesday by the Special Assistant to the governor on Public Communications and New Media, 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 unraveling whether or not the air strike 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.