‘Kaduna Village Bombing Is Serious Negligence Not A Mistake – Shehu Sani Knocks Army

Former Senator representing Kaduna Central, Shehu Sani, says the bombing of a crowd celebrating Maulud in Tudun Biri village of Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State is professional negligence and not a mistake.

Naija News reports that no fewer than 120 people were killed and many others injured in the Sunday night airstrikes by the Nigerian Army, which was described as accidental and targeted at bandits.

In an interview with Trust TV’s Daily Politics, Sani described the tragedy as a severe act of negligence the government must take seriously, stressing there have been recurring bandit and terrorist attacks across the state and no incident of terrorist arrest made or neutralised.

The former legislator said the federal and state governments must take action to prevent further occurrences, adding that the Army should tender an unreserved apology over the tragic incident.

He said, “It’s important that the public understand the context and concept of what is happening in Kaduna as far as security issues are concerned. In the last few years, almost about 70 per cent of the state has been battling cases of banditry and terrorist attacks.

“Southern Kaduna is a well-known case when it comes to issues of attacks by bandits and their unholy activities. In the central part of Kaduna, that’s Birnin Gwari and Igabi (where this incident happened) and Giwa local governments, there have been a history of serious attacks.

“NDA was attacked. School of Forestry was attacked. Airport Quarters was attacked. All of these happened in the same local government. In all of these attacks, there has never been an incident where these terrorists were arrested and killed, or, in any way, neutralized.

“So, this bombing at Tudun Biri could be said to be a serious negligence. It is a village and whatever device you’re using, whether humans or drones, crowds of people were celebrating within the centre of the village, and a statement that came from the Army was contradictory. First, they said it was a mistake. And secondly, they were justifying it with the fact that there were bandits or terrorists they were pursuing and so they carried the attacks there.

“But there’s no law that permits them to go after a bandit as long as he has crossed over to a civilian area. Even if bandits are embedded in the civilian quarters, you have to take precautions and take cognizance of the loss of lives that your operations can result in. So, as far as I’m concerned, going by the history of this kind of things, if they were cautious, this wouldn’t have happened. If they worked with intelligence, this wouldn’t have happened.

“Now it’s left for the government at both federal and state levels to take action to prevent further occurrence. But we have a history of this thing happening. And the reasons they have been giving are more like justifications. So there’s no way this was a mistake.

“Can you tell me that if a terrorist is located in a government area, especially where the high and mighty are, a similar attack could also take place? So I think what has happened is a disaster and a professional negligence and there’s nothing required other than unreserved apology.”