The President of the Nigerian Senate, Godswill Akpabio has said a committee would be constituted to ascertain and verify if the killers of 16 military officers in Delta are Nigerians or Foreigners.
Recall how the officers attached to 181 Amphibious Batallion, Bomadi Local Government Area of Delta were killed while on peace mission due to a distress call received after the communal crisis between the Okuoma and Okoloba communities.
Speaking, Akpabio said the nation needs peace at this time and should avoid war at all cost, and that he isn’t sure of the origin of the evil elements that perpetrated the barbaric act.
“I don’t want to conclude that these people are from Niger Delta, because we respect men and women in uniform. That is why I am saying that your additional prayer should be to carry out a thorough investigation to know whether they were mercenaries outside Nigeria, who came in to commit this crime, because I don’t think these people are from Niger Delta.”
“We are not at war. Even in the field of war, to lose such a number of personnel, no community will go to the extent of doing that kind of thing; I don’t think they are from Niger Delta. So I think the first point should be that we should establish the culprits who committed this crime,” he stated.
Motions for the issue to be investigated were moved by Senator Abdullaziz Yar’adua (Katsina) and Ede Dafinone (Delta Central).
Yar’adua pleaded with the FG to recruit more policemen to take charge of internal security, while the military should be allowed to perform the vital function of protecting the country from external forces.
The Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin wasn’t left behind as he described the killing of the soldiers as despicable, stressing that all efforts will be put into bringing the perpetrators to book.
“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.”