By Laide Akinboade, Abuja

Some groups recently, commiserated with the families, people, and Government of Kaduna State over the unfortunate, mistaken bombing of some innocent civilians in the Tudun Biri area of Igabi Local Government Area, LGA, in the state.

The group which said it received the news of the development in Kaduna with serious pain, appealed to residents to believe in the ability of the nation’s Armed Forces to enthone a secured Nigeria for the betterment of all citizens.

The coalition is led by a foremost African peace-building group, Global Peace and Life Rescue Initiative (GOPRI), which noted that the military drone was in hot pursuit of some terrorists that infiltrated some communities in the area before the unfortunate incident.

While expressing its heartfelt condolences to the families, people, and government of the state, the group, however, took a swipe at a call for the resignation or sack of the Chief of Defence Staff and the Chief of Army Staff, by a northern-based group operating as Arewa Action Group for Good Governance.

Recall that the Arewa group on Tuesday, had alleged that the action of the Nigerian Army has cast a shadow on the human rights rating of the Nigerian Army.

The group, in a statement signed by Moses Saleh, accused the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Gwabin Musa, of conniving with the Nigerian Army to cause havoc in communities in Kaduna State.

The group said the Chief of Defence Staff sanctioned the action of the Nigerian Army without the involvement of the Nigerian Air Force, the service responsible for air operations.

But in its reaction to the allegation, the GOPRI-led coalition expressed disappointment at the claim by the northern group even as it said such a group was not in existence anywhere in Nigeria or beyond.

In a statement issued by the coalition, they called on the military chiefs not to be deterred in their relentless efforts to rid Nigeria of terrorists following the actions of some faceless individuals masquerading under some nonexisting groups.

In the statement signed by the, the Executive Director of Global peace and life rescue initiative GOPRI, Amb. Melvin Ejeh, the Convener of the Conference of Islamic Preachers in Africa (CIPA), Sheikh Mohammad Abubarkar Zango, the coalition commended President Bola Tinubu over the high-powered delegation he dispatched to the community for immediate assessment of the situation.

The group which said though it does not speak for the military, said the Nigerian military remains one of the best in the world, noting that a single mistake should not be a yardstick to attack the nation’s revered military who are making sacrifices and achieving monumental results daily.

It said: “In as much as we won’t want to join issues with the nonexisting group, we will not also sit on the fence while some enemies of the country succeed in their desperate clandestine plan to pitch Nigerians against the military and its leadership.

“The Global Fire Power (GFP), an institution that ranks the military of different countries, recently rated the Nigerian military as one of the best in the world, in its survey.

“This places Nigeria above 18 European countries namely: Denmark, Belgium, Portugal, Bulgaria, Austria, Ireland, Macedonia, Finland, Hungary, Croatia, Slovakia, Serbia, Albania, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Anybody in doubt can do their research,” the coalition said.

The coalition added: “We are saddened over the unfortunate deaths of innocent civilians in Kaduna State.

“Our hearts go to the immediate family of the deceased. We sympathize with the families, people, and Government of Kaduna State over this regrettable incident. We call on the Government to make adequate arrangements for the families the deceased left behind.”

It added: “We commend President Tinubu over the high-powered delegation he dispatched to the community for immediate assessment of the situation. 

However, we are saddened and shocked by the reckless, and irresponsible derogatory, defamatory, and inciting statement issued by a faceless sponsored group, operating under the name, Arewa Action Group for Good Governance, against our revered Chief of Defence Staff,

CDS, General Christopher Gwabin Musa, and the Chief of Army Staff, Lt General Taoreed Lagbaja, at a time Nigerians are mourning. “

According to the coalition, “This group which has no visibility and physical address anywhere in the country according to our investigation, is just out to play their paymasters’s script just to tarnish the good reputation of the CDS and COAS to cause bad blood between them and Nigerians.”

The coalition said it did not see how an operational hazard would translate to be caused by the CDS and COAS.

“While we are not trying to justify the killing of innocent Nigerians under any guise, however, credible intelligence available to us suggests that the soldiers were in hot pursuit of some terrorists who had infiltrated the communities on that faithful day,” it said.

The group said, “Operational hazard happens anywhere in the world no matter how advanced.”

It advised Nigerians against playing politics with issues of national security rather than coming together to solve the problem. 

“While we call on the government and military high command to ignore the faceless group, we appeal to the DSS to commence an immediate investigation to unravel the sponsors of the faceless group who are out to malign the office of CDS and COAS. Their action is capable of causing religious and ethnic unrest,” it tasked.