The senate president, Mr Godswill Akpabio said on Tuesday that the killers of 17 officers and men of the 181 Amphibious Battalion in Okuama in Ughelli South local government area of Delta last Thursday are not from the Niger Delta region or even Nigeria.
Akpabio made the observation while contributing to a debate on two merged motions sponsored by Messrs Abdulaziz Yar’Adua, APC, Katsina Central and Edeh Dafinone, APC, Delta Central, respectively.
He noted that those who committed the heinous crime might have been mercenaries from outside the Niger Delta.
The senate president contended that such killing was not in the character of the Niger Delta people.
“See, I don’t want you to conclude, I do not believe that these people are from Niger Delta, those who did the killings, 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 these people are mercenaries from outside the Niger Delta who came to commit this crime because I don’t think these people are Niger Deltans,” he said.
Akpabio further said it was inconceivable that 17 soldiers would be killed in such a situation when the country was not in a war.
“We are not at war to lose such a number of personnel. No community will go to the extent of doing this kind of thing. I don’t think they are from Niger Delta.
“So, I think the first point is that we should first establish the culprits who committed this crime; we must take this seriously. Supposing they are not from Niger Delta, supposing they are not even Nigerians and we now come and be giving relief materials to them. People should bear the consequences of their characters, we will not support relief materials,” he added.
Thereafter, the senate directed the committee on defence, army, navy and air force to liaise with the military authorities to get more information on the remote and immediate cause of the death of the army personnel.
It also called for the recruitment of more policemen so that the military will not be dragged into civil matters.
*The 17 army personnel who died in the attack
However, the lawmakers rejected a prayer to observe a minute silence or to commiserate with the families of innocent civilians killed in the process, saying the casualty figures were yet be ascertained.
Besides, the senate rejected an additional prayer for relief materials for the community by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) as proposed by Dafinone.
However, it agreed that the families of the fallen soldiers should be compensated following a motion by the deputy senate president, Mr. Barau Jibrin and seconded by Mr Nwoye, both APC, Kano North and LP, Anambra North respectively.
Recall that some yet-to-be-identified persons had on Thursday, March 14 ambushed and killed 15 or 16 army personnel who were on a peace and rescue mission during a clash between Okuama and Okoloba communities, according to initial reports.
However, the defence headquarters on Monday released names and pictures of 17 army personnel killed in the attack.
