Africans Rising mourns with Nigerian families whose relatives were killed in the recent bomb strike in Kaduna State. The Nigerian military carried out a drone strike on its own innocent citizens who had gathered for a religious festival. This is totally irresponsible and unacceptable. We strongly condemn this act which claimed the lives of almost 100 people, mostly women and children. The claim by the Nigeria Chief of Army Staff that this was merely a mistake is ridiculous and must be rejected by all right-thinking people. This is not the first time the Nigeria military has committed such an atrocity. Similar incidents in Nasarawa and Zamfara states are still fresh in people’s minds. To date, no credible investigation has been conducted nor compensation paid to the victims of these occurrences.
We support the cry of the families and relatives of victims for justice. The government of Nigeria must ensure a thorough investigation into this matter as a matter of urgency. All those involved in this must be held to account. The Chief of Army Staff and all those in positions of authority who supervised this reckless abuse of lives must resign. We also demand compensation for all the survivors and the families of those killed as well as provision of medical and psychosocial support of the injured persons.
