The death toll from the Nigerian Army drone mistaken bomb attacks at Tudun Biri, Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State, have risen to 127 as of Wednesday evening, community leaders and survivors of the incident have revealed.
The survivors, who claimed to have carried out count of the people who attended the Maulud Nabbiy celebration when the the drone attack happened, said several others were still unaccounted for.
At the Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital on Wednesday, one of the victims family, Idris Dahiru said more injured people and dead bodies were brought to the hospital on Wednesday.
Dahiru, who claimed to have lost 34 members of his family, said: “This morning, some people were picked in the forest and they were brought to the hospital.
“The number of injured people has increased to 75, one person had died this morning. Some of the injured persons have been moved to other hospitals. Some have been moved to 44 Army Reference Hospital, One division Nigeria military facility, while some are still here in Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital.”
It was also gathered as of Wednesday, 120 people were confirmed dead.
One of the Imams from the area, Alhaji Ahmed Sanusi, on Monday said they buried 100 people and as of Tuesday, 20 more bodies were recovered by the search team while as of Wednesday, another six bodies had been buried.
Sources also confirmed that one of the critically injured survivors died at Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital.
One of the survivors, Idris Yalo, said: “we are still traumatised, some of couldn’t eat since yesterday (Tuesday) because of the condition we are seeing our people in the hospital. One of the injured victims died this morning and he has been buried .
“We thank the state government. They were kind to our people in hospital. We were sleeping on the bare floor, but they’ve now provided us with beds and mattresses. “The Commissioner just left, she brought food to us. We are happy.
“Prior to now, we had 66 injured persons in the hospital but the figure has gone up, seven additional victims were brought here yesterday. The seven persons were taken to the Army 1 Division medical facility.
“Many other victims were not even found. Body parts were picked on nearby trees, roof tops.”
innocent civilians should be the utmost priority of our armed forces, and any actions to the contrary must be met with swift and appropriate consequences.
“We urge the relevant authorities to act swiftly and decisively to prevent the recurrence of such a heartbreaking incident and to ensure that justice is served,” he said.