One Month After, Kaduna Bombing Victims In Tudun Biri Yet To Get Compensations From Nigerian Government

One month after it happened, the Nigerian government under President Bola Tinubu has not provided compensation to the victims in Tudun Biri village of the Igabi Local Government Area in Kaduna State, who were affected by the bombing conducted by the Nigerian Army.

Residents said they are still waiting to be compensated for their losses, and the reports and outcome of the various committees set up by governments at the different tiers. 

SaharaReporters had days after the incident reported that the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji  Sa’ad Abubakar, also vowed to get justice for over 100 civilians killed by the army bombing at Tudun Biri in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

SaharaReporters had reported that the Nigerian Army had claimed responsibility for the bombing which happened on December 3 where over 100 civilians were killed.

The army had said the bombing was targeted at insurgents but mistakenly killed the civilians.

Meanwhile, a former Governor of Kaduna State,  Nasir El-Rufai, and the 14th Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, were said to have visited the village where the accidental bomb occurred where they jointly donated N10 million to the community.

The Sultan of Sokoto who is the spiritual leader of the Nigeria Muslims, made the vow to get justice for the bombing victims on Friday while speaking at the Silver Anniversary of the 11th Emir of Jama’a, Alhaji Muhammad Isa-Muhammad, at the Emir’s Palace in Kafanchan, Kaduna.

Speaking with Daily Trust, Malam Bala Tudun Biri, a resident expressed the impact of the tragedy, saying they would remember it for generations.

Reverend Musa Sa’idu of Nagarta Baptist Church also highlighted the unity between Muslim and Christian communities in coping with the grief of the incident.

However, a former senator representing Kaduna Central Senatorial District, Shehu Sani, told newsmen that the establishment of an investigative panel was unnecessary in the first place as exposing the individuals responsible for the drone attack should be a straightforward process.

“I don’t think they need to waste so much time investigating this matter because it is very simple: a drone cannot operate itself; somebody has to operate it,” he said.

“And all we need is information on who actually operated this drone and who gave them the directives. The reason why we are infatuating ourselves with the investigation is that this is not the first time civilians have been killed in an operation like this, and nothing happened in the past.

 “If we want to prevent this from happening in the future, we actually emphasise the investigation, and the culprit has to be brought to justice. Why it is happening now is because when it was happening before, no one had ever said or done anything about it,” Shehu Sani said.

He, however, acknowledged the efforts and sacrifices made by the Nigerian military, saying without them, many people wouldn’t be able to sleep in their houses.

“But a law has been broken; there is no law that permits anybody to launch an attack on civilian targets for any reason. Whether there is a terrorist there or there is a bandit there.

“The previous error attacks happened during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, so this is the first to happen in this administration. What we expect to see out of the investigative report is the reason behind the deployment of drones in Tudun Biri village. Secondly, the basis behind the drone bombing in Tudun Biri,” he said.

As the investigation commences, the Chief Imam of Tudun Biri, Imam Hashim Jafar, said that a few days after the incident, a team of military officers visited and spent over five hours interviewing residents.

“They told us they came to do an investigation, and after they got all the data from our people, we are still waiting for the final report of the investigation. We told them we were eager to see the report and the subsequent actions planned by the federal government.”

The Chief Imam emphasized that he urged the military officers to act with a sense of God-consciousness and produce a report that can be relied upon in this world and the hereafter.

“We also let them know that the people of this village want justice. They want to see the culprits exposed and face the wrath of the law. They didn’t tell us when the report will be released but they said it will be soon because they know all eyes are on them.”