The Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party in the February 25 election, Peter Obi, on Tuesday, visited Kaduna State to commiserate with them on the error bombing by the Nigerian Army that claimed about 100 persons with many still receiving treatment in the hospital.
Obi, who visited Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital where the bomb victims are receiving treatment, commended the Kaduna State Government for their efforts to bring succour to the victims.
While noting the gallantry of the nation’s military, Obi advised them to be more cautious and professional to avoid recurring accidents like this that have claimed many innocent lives.
The LP Standard bearer, however, used the visits to express worry at the glaring misplacement of priorities by the Federal Government, pointing out that attention is being paid to non-essential issues while critical areas like security are suffering.
He expressed shock at the remarks made by the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, that budgetary allocations to the military are not being fully released as and when due and wondered why that should be when funds are released for luxury items like buying expensive cars, and needless and non-essential trips.
In a statement on his X handle after the visits, Obi said “I call on the Federal Government of Nigeria to ensure that the rhetorics of support to security agencies now transcend mere words and letters to deliverable actions.
“The recent remark by the Chief of Defence Staff, General Musa, that not all their statutory allocations are released to them as and when due, must be looked into. We cannot, as a country, continue to release funds for the purchase of SUVs for politicians, renovations of buildings, unnecessary travels, parties and conferences, while depriving resources to areas of top priority and great importance, like security, which if handled properly, will immensely contribute to turn around the sufferings of Nigerians, including farmers going back to their farms to tackle one big challenge fuelling inflation in Nigeria today – the cost of food items.
“Today, I visited Kaduna State to commiserate with the grieving good people of the state on the unfortunate accidental bombing by the Nigeria Army at Tudun Biri village in Igabi Local Government of the State.
“While in Kaduna, I took time also to visit the Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital, where those wounded in the ugly incident are receiving treatment.
“May Almighty God forgive the sins of those that died, grant them eternal rest and grant their families the fortitude to bear their irreplaceable losses. And for those receiving treatment in the hospital, I pray to God Almighty to grant them quick recovery.
“I thank the government of Kaduna State for their kind and caring intervention for the affected victims. I urge governments at all levels, and the good people of Nigeria to help in setting up a foundation for compensation of families affected in this particular incident and similar incidents in the past, and most importantly, in educating the young children orphaned in this incident.
“Furthermore, while thanking our gallant soldiers and other security agencies for the great work they are doing in securing Nigeria, especially at this challenging time, there is now a need for extra caution in their operations, because the occurrence of 16 mishaps which have claimed about 485 lives, since 2009 when we started the war against insurgency, is quite worrisome. We need to take every necessary precaution to avoid future occurrences while remaining focused on securing Nigeria.
Obi finally reiterated his earlier call saying “Again, I maintain that we need to get our priorities right in our nation and channel our resources to more critical and productive areas that will be beneficial to Nigerians, and engender development in our nation. I remain committed to this Nigeria, the New Nigeria of our dreams.
