President Bola Tinubu has ordered an investigation into a military air strike that accidentally killed at least 85 civilians in Tudun Biri village, Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

Presidential spokesman Ajuri Ngelale said his principal has ordered “a thorough and full-fledged investigation into the incident,” calling for “calm while the authorities look diligently into the mishap”.

“President Tinubu describes the incident as very unfortunate, disturbing, and painful, expressing indignation and grief over the tragic loss of Nigerian lives,” Ajuri said on Tuesday.

According to the presidential spokesman, Tinubu also directed swift and comprehensive medical attention to surviving victims while praying for the repose of the souls of the deceased.

The army acknowledged one of its drones aimed at armed groups had accidentally struck the Tudun Biri village as residents were celebrating a Muslim festival. Though the army did not give any casualty figures, residents had said 85 people, many of them women and children, had been killed.

The army had said its drone was a routine mission that “inadvertently affected members of the community”.

Nigeria’s armed forces often rely on air strikes in their battle against so-called bandit militias in the northwest and northeast of the country, where jihadists have been fighting for more than a decade.