Civil rights advocacy group: Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has condemned the attitude of the Federal Government and security agencies in treating certain ethnic minorities, especially in the North like they matter less in demographics.
HURIWA specifically described as totally despicable that in a religiously charged and tensed state such as Gombe, with a history of unprovoked attacks against Christians, that a terrorist driving a truck was allowed to run over scores of Christians who were only displaying their religious belief system.
It expressed concern that the Nigeria Police Force without any scintilla of forensic, extensive, and thorough investigation dismissed this likely well planned and unprovoked act of terrorism as a mere accident.
HURIWA therefore condemned the decision of the police to hastily conclude that the act of terrorism and hate crime committed by a lone truck driver that violently crashed into an Easter Day procession in Gombe state was an accident.
This was as HURIWA expressed concern on the whereabouts of the officers and men of the Nigeria Police Force, the Federal Road Safety Commission, and the Nigerian Civil Defence Corps at the time of the terror attack that they allowed the predetermined terrorism against Christian worshippers in Gombe state to happen.
The Rights group in a statement by Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, National Coordinator of HURIWA, called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to wake up from slumber and take concrete measures to provide equal security for all Nigerians irrespective of ethno-religious affiliations.
HURIWA said; “How on earth would the Nigeria police simply guess that an over-speeding truck that crashed into a crowd of people holding an Easter procession early Monday, killing five and injuring 13 others in Nigeria’s northern state of Gombe, is an accident?
“From the video evidence, the road in which these Christians were holding their procession was absolutely free of vehicular traffic and the road which is well constructed and has no pot-holes is such that even if a blind and drunk driver is coming, he could very well see the large crowd that was on the road.
“And what is chasing the driver that he had to overspeed in such a way that he crashed intentionally into the crowds of Christians and then the police hastily concluded that it was an accident? This is a conspiracy of the highest order against Christians and is absolutely intolerable and despicable.
“What kind of accident is that? Is the Nigeria Police unaware that Islamic terrorists in many European nations have recently used the same methods of attacks against large congregations of Europeans especially in Germany and the police in those European nations rightly investigated thoroughly and discovered a nexus between terrorists’ networks in the Middle East and those deadly attackers pretending to be drivers?” it asked.
HURIWA also condemned the Federal Road Safety Commission, and other security forces for not been on that road at the time of the religious gatherings even as it is important to find out why the security forces got no prior intelligence about this absolutely predetermined attack against Christians with a view to preventing it from happening?
“Could this have been allowed to happen in Kano if Muslim worshippers were holding a procession?” HURIWA questioned.
