Atiku’s Stern Warning Made Army Admit To Killing Protester In Zaria – Ibe To Presidency

Special Adviser to Atiku Abubakar, Paul Ibe, said the former vice president’s stern warning to service chiefs and military commanders made the Nigerian Army admit its personnel killed a peaceful protester in Zaria, Kaduna State.

Paul Ibe said this while responding to a statement from the Presidency, signed by the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, on Tuesday.

The former presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar, on Tuesday, in a statement, said “service chiefs and military commanders of Nigeria’s armed forces who authorize the use of lethal weapons against peaceful protesters will be held responsible for committing crimes against humanity, even in the years following their retirements.”

In response, the Presidency accused Atiku of ignoring looting by mobs in Kaduna, Kano, Plateau, Jigawa states, who hijacked the hunger protest.

Onanuga further accused Atiku of being a supporter and enabler of the destructive protests.

He added that “Alhaji Atiku wants the sinister protests to continue despite the street’s red signals.”

Atiku’s aide in response to the Presidency, on his X handle said: “Following Atiku Abubakar’s stern warning to service chiefs and military commanders not to shoot at protesting Nigerian citizens else they face crimes against humanity, the Nigerian Army has admitted to “mistakenly” killing a 16-year-old boy in Zaria, Kaduna State.

“The culprit soldier, we are told, has been arrested. That’s accountability. This was exactly what the former Vice President had alluded to, that even those who give the orders for such extrajudicial executions will be held accountable under international laws. As Commander-in-Chief, Bola Tinubu knows that even in war, there are rules of engagement. So, Bayo Onanuga, there was really no need for you to have been foaming in the mouth.”