Governor Ahmed Aliyu of Sokoto State has described has described the Christmas Day tragedy in the state as an act of God.

No fewer than ten people have been confirmed killed in a military airstrike while pursuing bandits in Gidan Bisa village of Silame Local Government Area of the state in the early hours of yesterday.

According to the Chairman of Silame Local Government Area, Abubakar Gitta Rana, the incident occurred at about 6am when two military fighter jets erroneously dropped bombs in the village, leaving 10 villagers and many livestock dead.

Governor Aliyu, in company of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) leader in the state, Sen. Aliyu Magarakarda Wamakko, and the Minister of Labour and Employment, Muhammadu Maigari Dingyadi, defied the difficult terrain of the village and joined other villagers for the funeral prayers for the deceased.

Governor Aliyu while condoling the community described the incident as unfortunate and an act destined to happen by the Almighty Allah.

“The military jets were on their mission to eliminate criminal armed groups terrorizing the state, and mistakenly bombed innocent people of this community.

“We consider this as a mistake because the same military had on several occasions successfully raided so many criminal hideouts in the state,” he added.

The Governor further said a thorough investigation would be conducted to find out what led to the avoidable mistake, so as to guard against its recurrence.

He also prayed to Almighty Allah to forgive the deceased, and give their families the strength to bear the loss.

Earlier, the Secretary to the State Government, Muhammad Bello Sifawa, announced a donation of N20million and 100 bags of assorted food stuffs to the families of the deceased.

He added that the state government will also settle the medical bills of those hospitalized as a result of injuries they sustained from the bombardment.