Mercenaries May be behind killing of 16 soldiers in Delta – Akpabio

By Andrew Oota

Senate has mandated it’s standing committees on Army ,Navy ,Air force and Police Affairs liase with the military hierarchy with the view to conducting a holistic investigations into the killing of military personnel in Delta State .

Similarly ,the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, hinted that the 16 soldiers who lost their lives in Okuama community in Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State, may have been killed by mercenaries.

The Senate President made the resolution during a debate on the murder of the service men.

Deliberating on a motion moved by the lawmaker representing Katsina Central, Senator Abdulaziz Musa Yar’adua, on the “killing of Nigerian Army Personnel in Okuama community, Delta State and the Necessity for an Urgent Investigation,” the Senate President cautioned colleagues against demanding equal compensation for the slain military officers, as well as innocent civilians caught in the crisis in Okuama.

During the debate, senator Seriake Dickson drew attention of the Senate to the escalation of the Delta situation to Bayelsa.

In his contribution, deputy Senate President ,
Senator Barau Jibrin maintained that ,”What happened is despicable. It is inhuman and it is something that cannot be accepted. We need to commensurate with the Nigerian Armed Forces and indeed the entire nation, to condole the immediate families of the fallen heroes and the Nigerian military for what happened.

“These were men that were trained by the Nigerian government and huge resources spent on them to defend the territorial integrity of this country and keep us safe as nation.

“Now, they were killed for no no reason; not at a time of conflict, not at the war front, they were just murdered in the worst fashion that you can think about.

“It should be condemned, what happened is inhuman and no stone should be left unturned in trying to find out the culprits who are responsible and they must face justice and this should never happen again in this country.

“The military is doing their best trying to deal with kidnappers, bandits and a host of others challenges, trying to make us safe and now some people decided to go and murder these people and I believe that it is something that we should all condemn and proffer solutions to”.