TINUBU: ATTACK ON OUR MILITARY MEN IS ATTACK ON OUR NATION, WE WON’T ACCEPT IT
focus on upholding peace and security in our nation is a testament to the resilience and dedication of our Armed Forces.”
Yar'adua said, “The Senate Committee on the Nigerian Army stands resolutely alongside the Defense Headquarters and the Nigerian Army in seeking justice for the fallen heroes.
"We shall spare no effort in supporting the necessary investigations and legal processes to ensure that those responsible for this crime face the full consequences of their actions.”
On his part, Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Defence, Senator Joel-Onowakpo Thomas, said the incident was a crisis taken too far.
While commiserating with the military and the immediate families of the slain soldiers, Joel-Onowakpo called for a holistic investigation into the remote causes of the crisis that led to the unwarranted killing of innocent soldiers.
He stressed the need for the security agencies to go after the masterminds of the heinous crime.
The senator, who also sympathised with the families of those who might have lost their loved ones as a result of the crisis, sued for immediate intervention of both the state and federal governments to avoid further escalation of the crisis.
He, however, stressed on the need for the military to tactically deploy intelligence in the pursuit of the masterminds to avoid killing of innocent children and women of Okuama community, who might not know anything about the act.
Mutu Condemns Act, Decries Linkage with Ijaw, Urges Arrest, Prosecution of Killers
A member of the House of Representatives, representing Bomadi/Patani Federal Constituency of Delta State, Nicholas Mutu, condemned Thursday's killing of 16 soldiers and described the act as "barbaric and inhuman."
Mutu, who is also Chairman of the Southern Nigeria Caucus in the House of Representatives, made his position known in a statement by his media office yesterday.
The federal lawmaker said the killing of the 16 solders, including a Lt. Col, two Majors and one Captain of the Nigerian Army, on a peace keeping assignment in the Urhobo community was "senseless and embarrassing."
Mutu challenged all relevant security agencies to work round the clock to fish out the killers and bring them to justice.
He warned that the criminals should not escape justice in order to serve as deterrent to those who might be planning to indulge in such heinous crimes in the future.
Mutu, however, frowned on the distortion of facts of the incident in a section of the press, which linked the fate of the soldiers to Ijaw militias in Okoloba, an Ijaw community in Bomadi Local Government Area of Delta state.
He stated, "This is far from truth of the incident. The Ijaw is not in any way linked or connected to this unjustifiable barbaric and inhuman and condemnable act.”
Niger Delta Oil and Gas CDC Decries Killings
The leadership of the Community Development Committees of Niger Delta Oil and Gas Producing Areas (CDC) condemned the killing of the soldiers of the 181 Amphibious Battalion of the Nigerian Army over a communal clash, describing it as unacceptable.
"There is no justification for this type of barbaric behaviour of a people against officers and men of the security forces," the organisation stated.
CDC, in a statement by its Chairman, Board of Trustees, Joseph Ambadekerimo, declared, "We cannot allow this ugly incident to continue to happen in our communities. The region should not be made to become a hot bed of insecurity.
"We have enjoyed relative peace and we enjoin all and sundry to key in to continue to provide the atmosphere of peace and tranquil togetherness in our communities. We have prided the Niger Delta region as the most peaceful of the country and we urge it remains so."
The group expressed sadness that peace keepers had now become targets while trying to maintain peace and provide security to lives and property. It stated that the culprits should be fished out and made to pay the highest price.
Military Continues Siege on Delta Community
The military, yesterday, continued its siege on Okuama community in their search for killers of four officers and 12 soldiers, who were on a peace mission to the community.
Security sources told THISDAY that the heavily armed soldiers were unrelenting in their attempt to apprehend the perpetrators, in spite of the fact that the community was already deserted.
It was gathered that some buildings, allegedly owned or occupied by the suspected perpetrators, were set ablaze by the angry soldiers.
A security source said, "Yes, soldiers are still in the community. They are looking out for the perpetrators of that dastardly act. They will definitely get them as more arrests were made between Saturday and today (Sunday).
"Some houses were set on fire but I can't say who set them on fire and when. We came in to join the troops and noticed that they were on fire,"
It was learnt that partial peace had returned to the community, though it was deserted but elderly men and women were seen sitting down in front of their homes looking dejected.