The Defence Identification Centre and International Committee of the Red Cross have commenced a five-day training on battlefield mortuary affairs in Kaduna.

The training, held at the Nigerian Air Force Base, Kaduna, aims to strengthen personnel capacity to identify military operatives killed in battle and manage human remains with dignity.

The deputy director of DIC, Chukwuma Ohanele, stated this in his opening remarks at the commencement of the programme on Monday, describing it as a landmark initiative resulting from collaboration between Defence Headquarters and the ICRC.

Mr Ohanele said the programme would address challenges associated with identifying military personnel and the dignified management of the dead, noting that battlefield deaths have become inevitable due to the high tempo of operations by the Armed Forces of Nigeria.

According to him, managing the dead in modern conflicts is not only a technical responsibility but also a moral and humanitarian obligation.

Mr Ohanele said the training was designed to strengthen professionalism, accountability and respect for human dignity. He said participants would undergo theoretical and practical sessions on Nigerian mortuary affairs, the humanitarian role of the ICRC, international humanitarian law, Nigerian military doctrine, search and recovery operations, and explosive ordnance disposal awareness.

Mr Ohanele also mentioned that participants would be trained on establishing mortuary collection points, conducting cursory examinations, and the respectful storage, transportation and repatriation of human remains, as well as temporary burials and cemetery creation.

He said the training would include indoor and outdoor exercises and assessment tests to ensure participants could effectively apply the knowledge acquired in operational environments.

Mr Ohanele commended defence chief Olufemi Oluyede, the DHQ and the DIC for supporting the initiative, and the commandants of NAF’s Medical Sciences and Aviation Medicine and the Regiment Training School for providing logistics and administrative support.

The school’s commandant, Anthony Ekpe, said the training was coming at a critical time, given the complex military operations being conducted by the Armed Forces.

Mr Ekpe said personnel were sometimes lost under difficult and gruesome circumstances, making it challenging to identify their remains or recover and identify their body parts. 

He urged participants drawn from the army, navy and air force to take the training seriously.

Habib El TaKach, forensic manager at ICRC, said the training was the outcome of a journey that began in Pretoria, South Africa, in 2024, describing it as the first global training programme of its kind.

Mr TaKach said the process of identifying the dead began from the moment information about a casualty was received and involved planning, obtaining necessary clearances, recovery of remains and transportation to a mortuary or cemetery.

(NAN)