Military Officers Killing: Soldiers Set Killers’ Hideouts Ablaze, Residents Flee

Soldiers reportedly stormed the hideouts of the suspected killers of the 16 soldiers deployed to stop the clashes between two communities in Delta State and set them on fire.

They were also said to have made some arrests in the creeks.

Meanwhile, residents have reportedly fled the communities after soldiers took over the areas and reportedly set some homes ablaze over the killing of their colleagues.

Troops from the 181 Amphibious Battalion were killed on Thursday when they were deployed to restore calm following a land dispute between the Okuama community in the Ughelli South Local Government Area and the Okoloba community in the Bomadi Local Government Area. Soldiers are reportedly patrolling the creeks in search of the killers of their comrades in arms. Governor Sheriff Oborevwori condemned the killings.

The Director of Defence Information, Brig.- Gen. Tukur Gusau, said the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Gen. Christopher Musa had ordered an immediate investigation into the incident. Meanwhile, the Ijaw Publishers’ Forum (IPF) President Ozobo Austin and Secretary-General Tare Magbei disassociated Ijaw youths from the killings.

The Vice Chairman of the Senate Committee on Defence, representing Delta South, Sen Joel Onowakpo Thomas, expressed shock over the killings, and described it “as a crisis taken too far”.

He called on Okuama indigene’s to join hands with the military to fish out the perpetrators.

But Onowakpor called for a holistic investigation into the remote cause of the crisis that led to the unwarranted killing of innocent soldiers.