By Damilare Adeleye

Bello Matawalle, Minister of State for Defence, has said the accidental killing of several civilians in an airstrike by the Nigerian Army in Agabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State will not stop the fight against insurgency and terrorism.

The minister stated this when he visited victims of the airstrike on Wednesday.

It was reported that Matawalle, together with Dr. Ibrahim Kana, ministry’s Permanent Secretary, led a high-level delegation to the state to sympathise with the victims of the incident on behalf of the federal government.

Mr Henshaw Ogubike, ministry’s Director of Press and Public Relations, made this known in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja.

While denouncing the tragedy, the minister stated that the struggle against insurgency and terrorism would continue.

He added that the terrible occurrence will not dissuade the administration from fighting terrorism.

“We are not going to relent in our fight against terrorism because these criminals must be defeated. We are going to continue fighting the criminals till we succeed against banditry and other criminalities in this country.”

Matawalle, who was also at the Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital in Kaduna, where the injured victims were being treated, stated that the visit was on President Bola Tinubu’s instruction.

He assured the Kaduna State Government of the Federal Government’s commitment to assisting the victims’ families.

He added that the government would form an inquiry panel to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident to prevent it from reoccurring.