The last may not have been heard on the ill-fated Christmas Day military airstrike that killed ten people, leaving several injured and properties destroyed in the Silame local government area of Sokoto State.
This is as the chairman of Silame LGA, Alhaji Abubakar Muhammad, has established a committee to assess the extent of damage caused by the military airstrike.
Mohammed, speaking with LEADERSHIP, rejected claims linking the victims to the Lakurawa sect, asserting their legitimacy as community members primarily engaged in farming.
“The claims linking the victims to Lakurawa are baffling. These are people I know personally. Their community founders migrated from my hometown over 100 years ago.
“The military should acknowledge their mistake instead of perpetuating baseless claims. Lakurawa operatives stay close to border areas and travel in motorcycle convoys, unlike my people, who were attacked in their homes without any weapons found on them,” he said.
He commended the state governor for covering the victims’ medical expenses at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital and providing N20million in support for affected families.
In a related development, a public affairs analyst, Yusuf Dingyadi, has criticised the federal government for its silence and lack of response following the latest tragedy.
Dingyadi said, “It is troubling that apart from the Minister of State, Defence, Honourable Bello Matawalle, who visited Sokoto in his private capacity, the federal government did not seem it feat to send a delegation to visit the scene or sympathising with the victims.
“The Federal Government should emulate past responses to similar tragedies, such as in Tudun-Beri, Kaduna, by compensating the victims and developing the community.
“There is need for comprehensive compensation and rehabilitation of the community. Government should build a primary school, an Islamiyya school, and a hospital in memory of the lives lost,” he stated.
Dingyadi also advised the military to do more in combating notorious bandit leader Bello Turji and incessant attacks on innocent residents in Zamfara and Sokoto states axis.
“If the military is serious about combating banditry, they should direct the same level of urgency towards eliminating Turji, who has been terrorising the North-West for years. The end of Turji will significantly checkmate banditry in the region,” he maintained.
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