The Resource Centre for Human Rights & Civic Education (CHRICED), a non-governmental organization based in Nigeria, has expressed its dismay over the recent drone strike that killed at least 120 civilians in Tudun Bari village, Kaduna State.
The drone strike occurred on Sunday, December 3, 2023, around 9 pm, when residents of Tudun Bari were celebrating the Maulud festival, a religious event marking the birthday of Prophet Muhammad.
According to the Nigerian Army, the strike was a mistake, as the drone was targeting terrorists and bandits in the area. However, the Army did not provide any details on how the error happened or who was responsible for it.
CHRICED, in a statement issued on Monday, December 11, and signed by Its Executive Director, Comrade Ibrahim M. Zikirullahi
, condemned the attack.
Zikirullahi said the Army’s admission of responsibility was not enough, and that the public deserved to know the exact circumstances that led to the tragedy. The group also urged the government to launch a probe that would uncover the remote and immediate factors behind the drone misfiring, and to make the findings public and implemented decisively.
“The other dimension of the Tudun Bari tragedy is the need to keep a close eye on the role of corruption in defense expenditures and outcomes. Several learned findings by civic think tanks have shown that corruption in the defence sector, in particular, has resulted in the waste of billions of dollars’ worth of public funds through corrupt defence procurement practices and the abuse of the opaque security funding system known as security votes”, the statement said.
CHRICED also criticized the gesture of the Senate, which reportedly donated its December salaries to the victims of the drone strike.
“ It is rather essential to determine appropriate compensation for each individual and their families who have been impacted. More injury is added to the pains of the victims, if the salary donors merely lump the people together and dole out handouts in response to such a colossal waste of hundreds of human lives”, it noted.
