‘Kaduna massacre intentional,’ Gumi hits military

Kaduna State renowned Islamic Scholar, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has said that the Sunday bombing of villagers in Tudun Biri in Igabi Local Government Area of the state is intentional.

The scholar said it was wrong to target women and children, including the elderly, during war, yet the military decided to otherwise, thinking they were families of terrorists.

The scholar, who spoke while delivering his weekly lecture at the Sultan Bello Mosque, Kaduna, questioned that if the first bomb dropped on the people was a mistake as claimed, what of the second bomb that targeted those evacuating the bodies 30 minutes after as claimed by the villagers.

According to him, it was God that exposed some of the atrocities committed by the military in the forest, saying he had been calling on the people that innocent villagers are victims of the security bombardments in the forest but nobody listened.

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He said, “I kept telling you not to invite people who see war as a solution but people refused to listen. Here it’s now. War is never a joke because it affects everybody. I warned you on this but you keep saying they should be killed.

“It’s you that will be killed. That bomb was meant to target the families of some people so as to kill their children and wives. I have been to a village where women and children were massacred in a remote forest.

“Many people have been bombed. Nobody said anything until it comes nearer to the city. I have been saying that whatever is between us whether it’s bandits or Boko Haram there should be peaceful negotiation.

“In this country, nobody can tell me; I tried finding a solution to the problem but we were not supported. The government was playing a double standard thinking they can win by war and in another way thinking of negotiation.

“These people assembled in a place women and children were and the drones have cameras which means they saw the people but they suspected they were children and wives of some people. I’m sure you will all have justified it if they got the families of those people.

“But they mistakenly targeted those who are not their target. For us, nobody should be a target of such bombings. This is because it’s wrong to kill women and children, including the elderly, and we are not in support of such even if they are IPOB members.

“We will never support the killings of IPOB wives and children. It’s better to have a face-to-face combat than bombing people. After all, nobody will even bomb IPOB. Those attacking Fulani settlements in Oyo, did you hear anybody dropping bombs on them?

“These bombs were made specifically to target some people but God exposed them because He was not happy with the killings of innocent lives. We hope the victims died as martyrs. But nobody should tell me it was a mistake. No, it was intentional because the target was meant for other people. Whoever dropped the bomb should be brought out.

“The people claimed the first bomb killed some people and that 30 minutes later the second bomb was dropped. If the first bomb was a mistake, should the second bomb be a mistake?”