Tudun Biri, a village in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State, finds itself embroiled in a legal battle with the Nigerian Government. The villagers are seeking N33 billion in compensation following a recent military airstrike by the Nigerian Army, which resulted in the tragic loss of over 100 lives.
Representing the villagers, Mukhtar Usman, Esq., has taken the case to a Federal High Court in Kaduna, filing the suit on December 8. In addition to financial compensation, the villagers are also demanding a formal apology to be published in at least three national newspapers. Their assertion is that this legal action is necessary to uphold the fundamental rights to life of the survivors of the calamitous incident.
One of the primary demands made in the suit is “a declaration that the act of striking dead, by way of aerial bombardment of the deceased victims herein while celebrating the Islamic Maulud at their village of Tudun Biri in Igabi Local Government Area on the 3rd day of December 2023 by the personnel under the command and supervision of the 3rd respondent (the Chief of Army Staff) amounts to a violation of the deceased victims’ fundamental rights to life as enshrined in Section 33 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 and Article 10(1) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (Ratification Enforcement) Act (Cap 10) LFN 2010.”
The date for the hearing of the suit is yet to be fixed, leaving the fate of the Tudun Biri villagers hanging in the balance as they wait for their plea for justice to be heard.
In this pursuit of justice, the eyes of Nigerians and the world at large turn to the outcome of this legal battle, as it resonates beyond the borders of Kaduna State and speaks to the broader issues of human rights and accountability.
