Nigeria soldiers face trial for deadly air strike 'mistake'

Two Nigerian soldiers will face trial over a drone bombing that killed dozens of civilians last year in the north-western Kaduna state, the defense headquarters has said.

It said the soldiers would face “a court martial for acts of omission or commission with respect to the incident”, in which at least 85 civilians were killed.

The strike on 3 December happened during a Muslim religious celebration. The state governor then said the civilians were "mistakenly killed" by a military drone "targeting terrorists and bandits”.

President Bola Tinubu ordered an investigation into the “bombing mishap”.

On Thursday, a military spokesman said they had concluded a “painstaking investigation” and had initiated disciplinary action.

Maj Gen Edward Buba emphasized that the incident had been a “mistake”.

He said the military is taking precautions to ensure there are no such strikes on civilians in the future.