Prominent Islamic scholar and tutor, Sheikh Gumi, has reacted to the accidental bombing of Tudun Biri in the Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State on Sunday night by the Nigerian Army.
According to him, the act was intentional which led to the Nigerian Army being exposed.
During his weekly lecture at the Sultan Bello Mosque in Kaduna, Gumi criticized the targeting of women, children, and the elderly, suggesting the military acted knowingly, thinking they were attacking families of terrorists.
Gumi questioned the narrative of the bombing being a mistake, especially considering a second bomb was dropped on those evacuating the bodies, as reported by villagers.
He mentioned his previous calls for attention to the plight of innocent villagers affected by security operations, which he claims were largely ignored.
Gumi said, “I kept telling you not to invite people who see war as a solution but people refused to listen. Here it is 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?”