Slain Delta soldiers to be buried on Wednesday
Tomorrow, Abuja will lay to rest the corpses of the 17 officers and soldiers killed in the Okuama hamlet on March 14 during a peacekeeping deployment.
Abuja’s National Cemetery will host the burial service at 3 p.m.According to a news release from the Nigerian army, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces Federal Republic of Nigeria, will be the event’s Special Guest of Honour.
Recall that furious youths killed the commanding officer, a Lieutenant Colonel, two majors, and one captain in the Okuama neighbourhood.
They further alleged that the killers had ripped their corpses apart and extracted their hearts.While the Defence Headquarters warned that there might be serious consequences, it did publicise the identities of the Army men slain during a peace mission to Okayama. Meanwhile, Tinubu and the Senate directed the military to capture the murders of military personnel.
According to reports on Sunday, the military searched the warring communities and arrested a large number of people, including three prime suspects, as the President declared that the Defence Headquarters and the Defence Chief had full authority to bring anyone responsible to justice.
Retired army generals and civil society groups also condemned the soldiers’ murders and demanded their arrest and conviction as a warning to other criminal elements.
By Nnaemeka Odenigbo
