• Accuse govt of abandoning them for political campaigns
From John Adams, Minna
With almost five days after an unidentified fighter Jet killed about 25 members of the Niger State Joint Security TaskForce, including local vigilantes and youths volunteers in Galadiman Kogo, Shiroro Local Government Area of the state, the community has accused the government of abandoning them for political campaigns.
Well over 8,000 people, including women and children from across six villages in Galadiman Kogo District were forced to flee their homes since last week Tuesday after an airstrike killed some JTF members, local vigilantes and some youth volunteers.
The affected villages are Nakurna, Pelele, Iburo, Gofa, Galape and Nasa.
The displaced people are currently taking refuge at NEPA Camp in Zumba, Zumba Central Primary School, Government Day Secondary School, North South Power Club House and other improvised make-shift camps around Zumba community without food and water for five days now.
The Sarkin Samari (youth leader) of Galadiman Kogo community, Ibrahim Bahago, who spoke to Sunday Sun on the plight of the people said since the unfortunate airstrike that killed JTF members, no single government official had visited the community to get firsthand information on exactly what happened, not to talk of sympathising with the people.
“Since the airstrike, nobody, I mean no government official has visited the community to know what actually happened. We lost our youths who were working with the DSS but nobody has come to sympathised with us.
“It was only the immediate past chairman of the local government, Mallam Suleiman Chukuba that visited the NEPA Camp where our people are staying. We have been abandoned to our faith.
The government warned our traditional leaders not to speak to anybody on the airstrike if not they will be removed,” he said.
However, some other members of the community who spoke to Sunday Sun on condition of anonymity, said they suspected that the airstrike was a complete sabotage just to send the JTF away from the community and allow the terrorists have their way, adding “why was it that it was when the JTF members had ambushed the terrorists who were coming to attack the community that the jet bomb them?”
He recalled a similar incident last year April when over 50 terrorists invaded the camp of the JTF at the same Galadiman Kogo, and killed about 13 of them, including seven local vigilantes. The incident, he pointed out, happened after about 100 members of the JTF members were withdrawn from Galadiman Kogo and sent to Kagara a day before the invasion of their camp by the terrorists at about 4:00pm.
The people said they decided to flee from their community because they did not know what would follow next after the remaining JTF members had left the community, leaving the people vulnerable to potential attack by the terrorists.
Since the airstrike Tuesday last week, neither the government nor the state police command has come up with any statement on the incident.