Father’s anguish follows daughter’s death in unintentional drone strike

An Islamic school teacher, Masud Abdulrasheed, is grappling with the loss of his seven-year-old daughter, who was killed by drone strikes carried out by Nigeria’s military during a religious festival held in their large, sparsely populated village precisely one year prior. According to the military, the bombing resulted from “a failure of intelligence,” which led the army to erroneously identify the open-air festival in Tudunbiri as a congregation of jihadist combatants. “The incident of December 3rd, 2023 was a great tragedy that shouldn’t have happened,” Maj-Gen Edward Buba, a military spokesman, informed the BBC. “The armed forces regret that incident. And if we could bring the lives lost back, we would.” Note: This report includes graphic descriptions that some readers might find disturbing. Approximately 85 individuals, among them Mr. Abdulrasheed’s young daughter Habeebah, lost their lives when two bombs were deployed by unmanned drones over the village located in northern Kaduna state. “The first bomb dropped on us at around 10 pm, close to a tree where women and children were seated,” Mr. Abdulrasheed recounted. “We ran for safety, but moments later we gathered to help those injured and also called for help, but the second bomb was dropped and it killed more people.” Habeebah was characterized by Mr. Abdulrasheed as “the most caring among my children”. “She would always give me whatever gift she was given, even if I didn’t need it,” he shared with the BBC. The 36-year-old individual was among the organizers of the yearly Maulud festival, an event commemorating the birth of Prophet Muhammad. Numerous students under his tutelage perished in the unfortunate incident. “We saw dead bodies all over the place as if they were sleeping. Body parts were strewn around the tree branches and rooftops. We had to pack them inside sacks and buried all the dead in a mass grave.” “There is nothing more devastating than seeing people you invited for a celebration coming to meet their end. I am so heartbroken,” Mr. Abdulrasheed stated. While speaking with the BBC, the father of four had his second daughter, Zaharau, seated next to him on a mat outside their residence. He carefully lifted her garment to reveal an injury on her abdomen. Zaharau, aged four, sustained injuries from shrapnel. Transporting her and other injured individuals to the closest hospital in Kaduna city required a minimum of one hour. Despite undergoing surgical intervention, her injury has not yet completely recovered. “When my daughter and the others that got injured were at the hospital, they were well taken care of. We thank the government for that.” “But things changed after they got discharged, months later. The hospital has refused to continue with their [free] treatment. They keep giving us excuses.” A survey of Tudunbiri reveals that almost every family has been impacted by the calamitous events of that particular night. Aisha Buhari, 20, mourns the loss of three younger brothers. She survived, sustaining an unhealed injury to her left arm. Seated on a stool, she wept, using her hijab to dry her tears while recounting her brothers’ final moments. “That night, I just finished talking with them and stepped away for a moment when the first bomb hit, only for me to see their dead bodies on the ground moments later,” Ms. Buhari stated. “When they rushed me to the hospital, I could not think of anything but my brothers. I cried so much.” During her conversation, Ms. Buhari paused to clean the pus discharging from her injury. “There was no house or farm task I could not do before the incident, but now I can’t do anything properly. I depend on people to help with something as basic as washing clothes,” she explained. Uba Sani, the governor of Kaduna state, informed the BBC of his intention to investigate the difficulties faced by villagers such as Ms. Buhari. “Thank you BBC for this information. I will personally go back to Tudunbiri, and if I find people that still need treatment, I will take care of it,” he pledged. “The instruction I gave was that all the injured should be treated and none of them should be discharged until they are fully recovered,” he further stated. Despite the previous year’s tragedy, Muslim adherents in Tudunbiri observed the festival once more this year, though it was conducted two months ahead of schedule. This event also coincided with the opening of a mosque, constructed by authorities over the bombing site, serving as a form of restitution. Mr. Abdulrasheed now serves as the mosque’s imam, following the death of the former imam in the air strikes. “We are happy about the new mosque, but we can never forget what happened,” Mr