‘You were quiet under Buhari’ — Bashir Ahmad under fire for criticising Kaduna bombing

December 6, 2023 12:57 pm

Bashir Ahmad, former special assistant on digital communications to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, has come under intense criticisms over his comments on the recent bombing of villagers in Kaduna.

On Sunday, several residents were killed and scores injured when air strikes were launched on Tundun Biri community in Igabi LGA of Kaduna state.

The villagers were reportedly commemorating the birth of Prophet Mohammad when the jet dropped the bomb that led to the death of several persons.

Some reports have put the death toll from the incident at over 120.

The Nigerian Army accepted responsibility for the incident, stating that its troops were on a routine mission against terrorists when the “mistake” occurred.

Reacting to the incident, Ahmad, via his X (formerly known as Twitter) page, said the army “cannot kill 126 civilians and call it a mistake”, while calling for an investigation into the incident.

“Haba! You can’t kill 126 innocent souls — a hundred and twenty-six civilians, and just call it a mistake. I can’t even remember a time when the troops killed such a number of terrorists anywhere in this country at once. @HQNigerianArmy, Nigerians are waiting to hear from you how this ‘mistake’ will be corrected and what measures you’d put in place to prevent a recurrence,” Ahmad wrote.

Some X users tackled Ahmad for refusing to criticise previous incidents of accidental bombing by the military under the Buhari administration.

In 2017, the former presidential spokesperson posted a statement wherein Buhari expressed regrets over an accidental bombing by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) that killed residents of Rann community in Borno state.

In January 17, 2017, the NAF plane dropped two bombs in the middle of Rann, which hosted thousands of internally displaced persons (IDP).

The incident left 126 people — including aid workers and refugees — dead, and many more injured.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said the death toll was probably as high as 170.

During the Buhari administration, over 300 civilians were reportedly killed in at least 10 cases of accidental air strikes carried out by NAF personnel hounding insurgents.

SEE REACTIONS:

You emerging as an opposition was not in my permutation and combination https://t.co/TKeQ9p3O8G

— Edmund of the Big Bag (@pyjama_ceo) December 4, 2023
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Is this some strain of tribalism? https://t.co/RW8rE1oaNM pic.twitter.com/CVO31w7wYk
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— Alhaji (@yeankhar) December 5, 2023

There were about 16 miscalculated air strikes between sept 2021 and Jan 2023 under the regime of your principal with innocent civilians as poor casualties and you were mute. So what happened now ? Cat released your tongue ?
May the dead rest in peace

Read more here on how… https://t.co/cj3bAVhsgS

— Deborah Tolu-Kolawole GenZ (@DeborahToluwase) December 4, 2023

Bashir is one of the biggest hypocrites in Nigeria, & I’m glad that Arewa is dragging his ass today. I couldn’t fold my arms & not tell a President Peter Obi the truth. For 8 years, 8 solid years, defenseless Arewas were slaughtered throughout the North.

More Arewa were… https://t.co/F9pZUxBXFJ

— NEFERTITI (@firstladyship) December 4, 2023

https://twitter.com/Abdul_Y_Maigoro/status/1731929454388363519?t=llSijAQaGYoZnI7ixmd1kg&s=19

It happened 14 times with a total casualty figure exceeding 200 pple during the 8-year tenure of the admin in which you served.

Not ONCE did you ask this question on any of those FOURTEEN occasions.

Please sit down at the back with this your latter day activism https://t.co/sXfzticHlO

— 20.10.2020 (@I_Am_Ilemona) December 4, 2023