And part of the statement reads…. “The United States calls on the Government of Nigeria to quickly, credibly, and transparently investigate these events in Zaria and hold to account any individuals found to have committed crimes.”

The United State government, through its embassy in Abuja, released a statement to make known its concern and position on recent clash between Nigerian military and members of Islamic movement, whose leadership hails from north-western part of the country. The imbroglio has been widely condemned, following the needless loss of lives.

According to Vanguard… “The Chief Medical Director of the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital in Zaria, Dr Lawal Khalid said the hospital’s morgue had received 61 bodies from the ongoing turmoil”.  The outcome of the incident involving the military and Shiites is rather unfortunate, an event the Army Chief says “could have been avoided”.

The official statement released on behalf of US government also reads… “While many details of the incidents that reportedly began on December 12 remain unclear, we are dismayed to learn of multiple civilian deaths [emphasis mine]. It is essential that all sides refrain from actions that further destabilize the situation.”

The bloodbath in Zaria vis-à-vis today’s upsurge of sectarian violence, which over the years as resulted to “multiple civilian deaths” across the globe, spurs the author of this essay to take a trip down memory lane as regards “multiple civilians” who in recent times were victims of US military engagements in Middle East and other regions, in circumstances popularly described as collateral damage or collateral murder as it’s being used in some quarters.

October 3, 2015 –Médecins Sans Frontières MSF Trauma centre in Kunduz was hit several times during sustained bombing by US-led coalition forces. According to MSF report… “The total number of dead is known to be at least 42, including 24 patients, 14 staff and 4 caretakers.”  What makes this event tragic was the “multiple civilians” who were armless; defenceless that got caught up in the mess.

“The official said the first bomb had landed at 02:10, and MSF staff called NATO in Kabul at 02:19 and military officials in Washington a few minutes later, but the bombing continued until 03:13.”

The bombing continued for 30 minutes after MSF pleaded with them to stop. This incident, sorrowfully, occurred just few days after MSF says that all parties to the conflict, including Kabul and Washington, had been told the precise GPS co-ordinates of the hospital in Kunduz on many occasions, including on 29 September.

“Why Is the U.S. Refusing an Independent Investigation If Its Hospital Airstrike Was an ‘Accident’?” –Glenn Greenwald

MSF President Meinie Nicolai condemned the attack as “abhorrent and a grave violation of International Humanitarian Law.” “We cannot accept that this horrific loss of life will simply be dismissed as ‘collateral damage’.”

And speaking of “collateral damage”

October 15, 2015 –The Intercept published secret documents about US drone wars. “… The US government has been wildly understating the collateral casualties from its drone program, according to an extensive eight-part series report in The Intercept. Using leaked documents on Operation Haymaker, one report takes an unprecedented look at drone strikes in Afghanistan between January 2012 and February 2013, during which more than 200 people were killed by US drones. Of those people, only 35 were approved targets, the rest being either collateral damage or mistakes resulting from faulty intelligence…”

April 5, 2010 –Wikileaks reveals video showing US air crew shooting down Iraqi civilians. According to TheGuardian… “A secret video showing US air crew falsely claiming to have encountered a firefight in Baghdad and then laughing at the dead after launching an air strike that killed a dozen people, including two Iraqis working for Reuters news agency, was revealed by Wikileaks today. “

Today’s Syria is literally a country on hold. Life has been made cheap, very sadly though, in that part of the world.

Some conspiracy theories suggest that the over 200,000 already lost souls and millions of displaced people living in inhabitable environment across border nations in Europe, is as a result of U.S support for the opposition rebels in Syria, supplying arms and other logistics to the Islamic State fighters in their quest to wage war on Bashar al-Assad’s leadership [The current Syrian President].

As stated by a report on Aljazeera… “The answer can be found in diplomatic communications released by WikiLeaks, which show that regime change in Syria has been the policy of the U.S. government as far back as 2006. Even more horrifying — after hundreds of thousands of deaths, untold lives ruined and more than 4 million refugees fleeing the country — is the evidence that Washington has had a policy of promoting sectarian warfare in the country for the purpose of destabilizing the Assad government”

Libya has not been the same ever since the implementation of US agenda to forcefully sack Mahmud Gaddaffi from office. They succeeded in their quest but the Rebels trained and armed by US continue to rain havoc on the once peaceful and economic giant country. Many innocent souls “multiple civilians” perished away as collateral damage.

“Look at Libya and what you[U.S] did there, that got your Ambassador murdered. Was it us that did this? You even had a Security Council decision. But okay… What did you proceed to do yourselves? You started bombing the territory. This is in clear contravention of the Security Council resolution.”

That was Vladimir Putin, Russian President, speaking at the Valdai international Discussion Club in late 2014.

Part of his comments also reads… “Is it a good result that your Ambassador was murdered? It is actually a terrible catastrophe. But do not look around for somebody to blame when it is you[U.S] making these mistakes. You must do the opposite; rise above the endless desire to dominate. You must stop acting out of imperialistic ambition”

Over and above, this writer is worried about what has become of the world today, the “multiple civilians” who had been victims of sectarian violence across the globe and millions who are displaced due to ongoing wars and conflicts.

It is to this end, the author of this essay joins United State government to condemn in its entirety the “multiple civilians” killed in Zaria.

Boluwatife Adekunle

@boluzzz

Views expressed are solely that of author and does not represent views of www.omojuwa.com nor its associates