From Noah Ebije, Kaduna
The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, said the 109 Senators will donate N1 million each from their December salaries to raise the sum of N109 million for victims of inaccurate drone bombings of the Tudun Biri community of Kaduna State by the Nigerian Army recently.
Senator Akpabio, who was represented by the Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, at a condolence visited to the Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, yesterday, said the lawmakers were shocked over the incident, adding that the Senate would partner the Federal Government and the Kaduna State government, to ensure succour for the community.
The deputy senate president with the Chief Whip, Senator Ali Ndume, the Minority Leader, Abba Moro, and other delegates also visited the Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital, Kaduna, to sympathise with the survivors.
“We will partner with you. We will do all within our powers to bring succour for those that were affected by this unfortunate incident. It is on this note that we want to announce, on behalf of the Senate president, that the first measure that we decided to take, apart from investigation, is to bring out something that will alleviate the hardship being faced by the people of the area (Tudun Biri).
“It is on this note that we have decided that we are going to donate our salaries for a full month to be given to those that were affected by this incident. So, a total of N109 million will be made available. I have told the governor, so that it will be channeled to provide a kind of succour to those that were affected by what happened.
“We are here to represent the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, and, indeed, other senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, in order to sympathise with you for the lost lives and those who sustained injuries in respect of the unfortunate incident that happened at Tudun Biri in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna some few days ago.
“We are all worried. We are all disturbed, but the only thing we can say, now, is for the Almighty Allah Grant those who lost their lives rest and those who sustained different degrees of injuries quick recovery. Let me clearly state here that since the occurrence of the unfortunate incident, the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has been working and has been in contact with the president of this country, who is highly disturbed and working behind the scene to unravel the reason why the incident occurred.
“I want to emphasise here that President Tinubu will leave no stone unturned in his zeal to unravel the unfortunate incident. We are working on the same page with Mr. President. Mr. President is highly in the mood that no stone should be left unturned to unravel the circumstances surrounding what happened and prevent that from happening again. So, we are all on the same page with the executive arm of the government.
“We will continue to work in partnership, in order to unravel what happened and to also take measures to prevent this kind of unfortunate incident from occurring in the future. We are here to show our solidarity and to show the fact that we stand by the government of Kaduna State, and we stand by the governor and, indeed, the entire people of this state, particularly, the people of Tudun Biri, in this trying period that the state is experiencing,” Jibrin said.
Responding, governor Uba Sani urged the senators to collaborate with him in advocating justice, stressing the necessity of a thorough investigation and the punishment for those responsible for the bombings.
The governor, however, attributed the bombing incident to the allegation that there was lack of coordination among the security agencies and armed forces. He appealed to the senators to support the call for the creation of state police, saying that it would equip security agencies with precise intelligence to avert similar incidents in the future.
He, however, expressed displeasure over an attempt by some disgruntled elements to bring religious and ethnic sentiments to the attack. He said the bombing incident has nothing to do with religion or ethnicity, saying that “in Kaduna, we are not divided over religious faiths. Both Christians and Muslims are one”. He also assured that the state government will continue to support the security agencies.