Meanwhile, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has called for the redeployment of the General Officer Commanding (GOC), 1 Division, Nigerian Army, Kaduna, Major General Valentine Okoro, over the bombing incident. ACF also called on the Defence Headquarters to retract what it called offensive statements against the embattled community.
A statement by the ACF spokesman, Professor Tukur Muhammad-Baba, yesterday, noted that the army should not be allowed to investigate itself, adding that an independent panel should take charge of the investigation. The Forum also demanded that the results of the investigations be made public.
The statement equally faulted the Defence Headquarters on claims that the military could deploy an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) without proper ground assessment.
“The General Officer Commanding (GOC) of 1 Division, Nigerian Army, Kaduna, along with his immediate subordinate officers, should be redeployed to allow for unfettered investigations.
“As a trite principle of justice, 1 Division of the Nigerian Army must not and should not be allowed to investigate itself. An independent panel of investigators is clearly indicated. Further, the results of the investigations must be made public, issues that border on national security considerations are accepted.
“The Defence Headquarters asserted that the community ought to have informed the military about its activities, an assertion tantamount to a classic blame-the-victim strategy and typical gas-lighting of the victims of the incident.
“On the contrary, the usual practice is for communities to be informed about impending military operations, and while it is entirely plausible that terrorists often disguise as civilians and entrench themselves in civilian population, the Tudun Biri gathering was clearly that of innocent civilian citizens, and as obvious from photos of the before-and-after the incident.
“The Defence Headquarters should retract its needless statement. The Ministry of Defence and the Armed Forces, in particular, should take steps to ensure that such incidents are avoided or contained to the barest minimum humanly possible.
“The Federal Government must take responsibility for full compensation to all victims of Tudun Biri. The gesture should also be extended to victims from all previous such incidents, while ACF recognises and unequivocally supports the resolve and sacrifices of the nation’s armed forces to totally exterminate banditry and terrorism in the nation. However, the armed forces should always remember that they must remain accountable for their actions,” the statement noted.