AdminHuman Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has alleged that the driver of the truck that crashed into a procession of Christian worshippers in Gombe State on Easter Monday, killing five people and injuring 13 others, is a terrorist.
HURIWA kicked against what it described as a hasty conclusion by the police and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) that it was just an accident.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThe rights group said it believes that it was a pure act of terrorism and hate crime committed by a lone truck driver.
The FRSC Sector Commander in Gombe State, Mr Samson Kaura, who confirmed the incident, said the crash occurred at 7:20 a.m. at Tashan Gona in Billiri town of the Billiri Local Government Area of the State.
Kaura said 18 persons were involved in the crash, comprising eight male adults and 10 female adults.
According to him, out of the 18, five comprising two male adults and three female adults were killed, while 10 female adults and three male adults sustained fractures and open wounds.
The FRSC sector commander said the cause of the crash was speed violations and warned motorists against overspeeding.
The incident reportedly sparked outrage, with youths setting the truck ablaze and storming the Divisional Police Headquarters, demanding the release of the driver.
However, HURIWA questioned why no officer of the police force, FRSC, and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) was not on the road at the time of the incident, alleging that it was a predetermined terrorism act against Christian worshippers in Gombe state.
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The group accused the security forces and the federal government of treating certain ethnic minorities, especially in the North like they mattered less in demographics. “It was totally despicable that in a religiously charged and tensed state such as Gombe State 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 and then for the Nigeria Police Force without any scintilla of forensic and extensive and thorough investigation has already dismissed this likely well planned and unprovoked act of terrorism as a mere accident.”
The group called on President Bola Tinubu to “take concrete measures to provide equal security for all Nigerians irrespective of Ethno-religious affiliations.”
“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 potholes 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,” HURIWA stated.
It said there are cases in European countries where terrorists have used such a method to crush innocent Christians and security agencies after thorough investigations found they had links with terrorism.
“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?”
HURIWA stressed the need for a deeper investigation into the incident.
