Babatunji Wusu –
Tudun Biri, Kaduna State, residents assert that the Nigerian Army bombed their community twice.
This occurs as Amnesty International officials have reported that 120 people have died in this horrific occurrence.
Originally intended to target terrorists, the airstrike accidentally struck bystanders during a religious ceremony.
Although the bombing was acknowledged by the Army, the National Emergency Management Agency’s first toll reported 66 injured and 85 fatalities.
Several authorities and stakeholders have expressed their disapproval of the unintentional bombing.
Both former vice president Atiku Abubakar and president Bola Tinubu have expressed their grief over the bombing’s death toll.
45-year-old local Saudatu Alamagani described the bombing of the community during Maulud celebrations to Punch, drawing a comparison between the attack’s opening moments and a scenario from a Nollywood film.
“The military started raining bombs on us,” she added, adding that at first the worshippers thought their attackers were bandits. This was during the Maulud celebration.
She claimed that dead bodies were strewn all over the place as people scrambled for cover.
Alamagani claimed that the military bombarded the community once more while residents looked for motorbike riders to take the seriously injured to the closest hospitals for care.
They bombed us twice, she said.
“It all began at around ten o’clock at night when our community was bombed by the military.” We were commemorating Prophet Muhammad’s birthday, Maulud.
The military returned with the bombardment as we were searching for motorcycles to take people who desperately required medical attention to the hospital. The onslaught claimed the lives of numerous villages, including men, women, children, and even expectant mothers.
“My family lost four relatives in the attack. A few deceased people’s bodies were scattered across the earth.
Alamagani made a plea to the government to help the community, particularly the relatives of the victims, lessen the impact of the bombing.
Sulaiman Umar, a 60-year-old survivor, added that the village had been bombed twice.
“I was eating that night when we were bombed,” he said. Numerous people lost their lives. Some of our kids had their intestines removed, so we had trouble identifying them. They twice blasted us. They returned to bomb us once again after the initial round.
“I escaped into a dense forest, where I slept until dawn. We draped leaves on the deceased. We divided the males and females into different groups and covered them with leaves.
Providing an update on the terrible event, Amnesty International’s country director, Isah Sanusi, stated that the organization’s representatives were present in the impacted areas and had counted more than 120 victims of the explosion.
“I can confirm to you that there are currently over 120 casualties in the affected areas,” he said.Every mass grave contained at least 77 dead people, according to our contact who was there at the mass burial. Additionally, 17 more residents of nearby towns lost their lives in the gruesome catastrophe.
