The erroneous bombing of the Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, camp in Rann village of Kala-Balge Local Government Area of Borno State by the military was caused by obsolete maps, the Nigerian Institution of Surveyors, NIS, has said.
It would be recalled that a military fighter jet involved in the counter-insurgency operation in the North-East had in January mistakenly fired missiles at aid workers, soldiers and displaced persons, killing no fewer than 100 persons on the ground.
But speaking on Saturday at a press conference to close the 52nd Annual General Meeting of the NIS
in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa capital, the institution’s president, Akinloye Oyegbola explained that the error would not have occurred if the map used for the operation was up-to-date.
He therefore called for regular update of the country’s maps by the government to avert the recurrence of such tragedy in the future.
Oyegbola said, “The maps we have on the ground are very obsolete. If we are to develop in a sustainable manner, we should intensify our mapping and not just the general mapping, but maps for different purposes. The ones we have now have not covered the whole country and the ones that have covered the country are very obsolete.”
“When the IDP camp was erroneously bombed, there was a release that whatever map that was used for that trip was not updated. Because if it was updated, the IDP camp would have been on the map. And if it was on that map, there was no way they could have bombed the IDP camp erroneously. So, you see what we are talking about. We will continue to echo that and we pray and hope that the people in government will appreciate it.”
“It is always said that the most developed countries are the most mapped countries in the world. There is a reason for that because they already know what mapping is all about and they want their own development to be in a sustainable manner, that is why you have it like that and that is what we are advocating for in our own country.”
The NIS President lamented that the despite the importance of surveyors to national development, many Nigerians have yet to know when to seek their services.
He further regretted that surveyors were not accorded their full compliments in the construction of bridges, houses and other structures, as other registered professional bodies.