By ABIRHIRE THOMAS
The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Taoreed Abiodun Lagbaja, has shed light on the brutal way the 17 soldiers killed in Okuama community in Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State happened.
Speaking during the burial of the slain soldiers at the National Military Cemetery in Abuja on Wednesday, the Army chief narrated that body parts of the soldiers were scattered all over Okuama community, and that it took the military about three days to recover some of them that are vital.
The DEFENDER had earlier reported that the 17 soldiers were killed during a peacekeeping mission in Okuama community, and described them as among the finest men that the Nigerian military had produced.
General Lagbaja said, “It grieves my heart that it took our search and recovery effort over 72 hours to recover some vital organs, the decapitated and disembowelled bodies of my men that were scattered all over the Okuama community by the youths.
“I consider it the most barbaric attack any citizen or community can commit against the state, and I must place on record that a lot of restraint has been exercised in our recovery effort for missing arms, ammunition, other equipment and body parts.”
The COAS said that the Nigerian Army, with assistance from sister security agencies, was determined to bring the perpetrators to book and recover all the arms that were taken from the slain soldiers.
Meanwhile, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has awarded houses to the families of the slain soldiers in any part of Nigeria they choose, and scholarships to all the children they left behind up to the university level., he said that the 17 soldiers were killed during a peacekeeping mission in Okuama community, and described the slain soldiers as some of the finest men that the Nigerian military had.
