Senator Ali Ndume representing Borno South in the Red chamber has disclosed that the recent ‘mistaken’ drone attack on Tudun Biri, a village in the Igabi local government area of Kaduna State, was the 16th recorded case in Nigeria.
He also said the attacks at different times led to the deaths of 485 people.
Speaking in an interview with newsmen in Kaduna, Senator Ndume called for an independent investigation over the attack.
The former chairman of the Senate Committee on Army, noted that, “We are tired of excuses,” adding that, “We would continue to pursue justice for those affected.
“When we visited the survivors and saw their condition, coupled with the Governor ‘s explanation, we Senators, 109, resolved to sacrifice our December salaries.
“We would hand it over to the Governor to assist the survivors. Lives were already lost, many lives. But the people need assistance.
“Our salary is about N1 million, so for the 109 of us, it will amount to N109 million. The money will be given to the Chief security Officer of the state, the Governor.
“Truly, we saw how worried he was over the plight of the survivors. He also wanted the incident to be investigated so that such error attack would not happen again.
“We are in support of the Governor and the Senate shall investigate. The incident shall be investigated by the will of Allah. From my knowledge, the Kaduna error attack was the 16th.
“In Borno we’ve suffered such kind of attacks, and in other places too,” he stressed.
He continued, “That’s why we’ve begun to think the incident was very worrisome and must be investigated. If it were one, two or 3 error attacks, but for these error attacks to happen 16 times, some even estimated 17 times, with a total death toll of 486, almost 500 to my knowledge, these must not be allowed to continue.
“Was it that the security operatives were overwhelmed or is it not in their purview? It shouldn’t be a futile exercise, especially if action is not taken on this very bombing. I am assuring you that the Senate must take action. This thing must stop.
“In my opinion, apart from our own investigation, it is imperative to have an independent investigation panel on the Tudun Biri error bombing.
“The independent investigators must be experts.We have soldiers, even the retired, who are well versed in this.
“We also have such experts within the civilians, they should be sourced, and the investigation should be done in good time and must be result oriented,” he noted.
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