The Pene Da Bwatiye Development Association, PDBDA, Worldwide, a group of the Bwatiye-speaking people of Adamawa State, has insisted that soldiers killed women of the ethnic group as they were holding a protest in Lamurde on Sunday, December 7.
“The blood of our innocent people – our mothers, daughters, sisters – has been spilled, and we will not be silenced,” the group said in a press statement issued on Tuesday.
Reports had emerged on Monday, December 8, that soldiers from the 23 Brigade of the Nigerian Army shot at women protesting against late arrival of security forces during a bandit attack on Bwatiye communities.
The reports alleged that seven of the women died, but the 23 Brigade issued a rebuttal Tuesday morning, denying the involvement of its soldiers in any killing in Lamurde.
In the statement signed and issued by its General Secretary, Mr Emmannuel Pwakavi Bapatu, the Pene Da Bwatiye Development Association insisted that the said soldiers indeed shot at the women and that 12 of the women had died.
“Twelve unarmed women who had gathered in peaceful protest against the late arrival of the military, carrying only leaves and singing songs of peace, were slaughtered by the members of the Nigerian Army deployed to assure peace,” the association stated.
It demanded immediate identification, suspension, and public prosecution “of every soldier involved in this heinous act”, as well as formal apologies and immediate comprehensive reparations from the Nigerian Army and the Federal Government to the families of “the twelve murdered women”.
