The Senate has donated N109 million to the victims of the drone bombing in Tudun Biri community, Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
The deputy Senate President, Jibrin Barau, announced the donation on Sunday at the Government House, Kaduna when he led a delegation of principal officers of the senate to condole with Governor Uba Sani over the bombing incident which claimed over 100 lives while over 80 others sustained injuries. Barau said, each of the 109 senators will contribute N1 million from their December salaries for the donation.
He added that the money will be sent to Governor Uba Sani for unward distribution to the victims.
Barau said the senate was sad about the incident and prayed for the reposed of the souls of the victims while wishing those injuredspeedy recovery.
According to him the senate President, Godswill Akpabio sent the delegation to sympathise with the government and people of Kaduna state.
Barau said, the senate will work with President Bola Tinubu to ensure that no stone was left unturned to unravel what led to the accidental bombing by the Nigerian Army and prevent further occurrences.
He said, “We are here to represent the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio and indeed the entire senate to sympathise with you over the loss of lives and those who sustained injuries in the unfortunate incident that happened at Tudun Biri in Igabi Local Government Area some few days ago.
“We are all worried, but the only thing that we can say now is to pray that the Almighty Allah grant those who loss their lives aljanah.
“We have been in contact with the President and we are working to unravel the reasons why it occurred. I want to emphasise that we will leave no stone unturned in finding out the cause of the incident.
“We are working with Mr. President who believes that no stone should be left unturned to unravel what happened and to prevent further occurrences…
“We will partner with you, we will do all within our power to bring succour to the people that were affected by the unfortunate incident.
“It is on this note that I want to announce, on behalf of the President of the Senate, that the first measures we have decided to take, apart from investigations, is to show our concern to bring succour to the victims.
“It is on this note that we have decided that we are going to donate our salaries to those affected by the incident.
“A total of N109 million will be made available through the governor so that it could be channeled to provide succour to those that are affected.”
Responding, Governor Sani, thanked the the senators for the support and the level of empathy Nigerians have shown to the victims of the incident.
He condemned attempts by some people to introduce ethnic and religious sentiments into the accidental bombing.
Sani said, “In the last few days some people have been trying to make the incident look as if it is either ethnic or religious issue.
“Here in Kaduna we are one family, there is no difference between Muslims and Christians, this incident can happen anywhere in Nigeria.
“What we are asking for is justice for the people of Tudun Biri who loss their lives and those in the hospital.
The governor also called on the National Assembly, especially, the senate to revisit the issue of state police to complement the efforts of security agencies.
“I urged the National Assembly to revisit the issue of state police. I was one of the senators who supported state police when I was in the senate through a bill, unfortunately it did not scale through.
“If we have state police, we should be able to support security agencies with local intelligence gathering .
Without state police, state governments will not be able to have synergy with security agencies”, Sani said.
He promised to continue to support security agencies in Kaduna state to protect the people.
Sani, expressed gratitude to the senate for supporting the victims with N109 million, noting that it will go along way in providing succour to the victims.
The delegation visited injured victims of the incident at the Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital, Kaduna.
Senators donate N109m to victims of Kaduna drone bombing
