Kaduna Bombing : Villagers Sue FG, Demand 33bn Compensation
The residents of Tudun Biri in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State have initiated legal action against the Federal Government, seeking compensation amounting to N33 billion in response to the recent airstrikes by the army that resulted in the death of over 100 individuals in the village.
The tragic incident occurred on the night of a Maulud celebration, precisely penultimate Sunday
Prompted by the severity of the situation, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had ordered an investigation into the massacre and sternly warned against any recurrence. The legal proceedings were initiated on December 8 before the Federal High Court in Kaduna, with Alhaji Dalhatu Salihu representing the villagers through their counsel, Mukhtar Usman Esq.
The villagers are not only seeking financial compensation but are also demanding a public apology to be published in at least three national newspapers. Their objective is to use the lawsuit as a means to uphold the fundamental rights to life of the survivors of the unfortunate incident.
Among the reliefs sought is “a declaration that the act of striking dead, by way of aerial bombardment of the deceased victims herein while celebrating the Islamic Maulud at their village of Tudun Biri in Igabi Local Government Area on the 3rd day of December 2023 by the personnel under the command and supervision of the 3rd respondent (the Chief of Army Staff) amounts to a violation of the deceased victims’ fundamental rights to life as enshrined in Section 33 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 and Article 10(1) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (Ratification Enforcement) Act (Cap 10) LFN 2010 and hence ultra vires the respondents, illegal, unlawful and unconstitutional.”
No date has been fixed for hearing.
