PDP seeks NASS investigation on killing of soldiers

By Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has tasked the National Assembly to immediately commence an extensive investigation into alleged compromises that led to the killing of over 100 Nigerian soldiers by insurgents.
The party made the demand in a statement yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan.
The party said the legislative investigation on the killing of our soldiers has become imperative given reports of compromises and alleged failure of the authorities to promptly act on a reported threat by insurgents to attack the base and other military locations in the area, few days before the attack.
“This is in addition to a disturbing video, circulating in the public domain, showing soldiers, weeks before the attack, giving accounts of their neglect by the authorities, resulting in their vulnerability to insurgent”, it said.
The PDP, therefore, urged the National Assembly to unravel the compromises leading to the killing of our soldiers and those behind them.
The PDP also demanded an immediate forensic inquiry into the reported killing of a principal witness in the Offa robbery incident, Michael Adikwu, in the custody of the Police in Kwara State.
Similarly, the PDP insisted that an inquest into the extra-judicial killing of the principal suspect in the Offa robbery has become essential following conflicting reports by the police over the cause and circumstances surrounding the death in its custody.
According to the statement, “The PDP invites Nigerians to note that the Police had initially claimed that the witness was killed in the course of arrest, it later claimed that he died in the course of investigation, only to again declare that he was discovered dead just as he was about to be taken to court.
“The PDP notes that the conflicting reports by the police only point towards an attempt to cover a case of extra-judicial killing, ostensibly with a view to mute vital information and derail the course of justice in the matter which has since assumed a political dimension targeted at key opposition leaders.
“The PDP, therefore, calls for a public investigation into the circumstances surrounding the killing, which will require an open questioning of all those involved on the arrest and detention of the suspect,” it said.