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

Read also: Nigeria airstrike ‘mistakenly’ kills worshippers at religious festival

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 emphasised 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.