The Nigerian army has said the killers of 17 military personnel in the Okuama community of Delta State fled with their weapons. The General Officer Commanding the 6 Division of the Nigerian Army, and Joint Task Force, South-South Operation in Delta State, Jamal Abdussalam, revealed on 21 March in a statement by the spokesperson of the Army Division, Lieutenant Colonel Jonah Danjuma. Recall, that the officers and soldiers were ambushed and murdered while responding to a distress call during a clash between Okuama and Okoloba communities in the South-southern state. The military, on Saturday, 16 March initially disclosed the number of the slain as totaling 16 soldiers however, clarified on Monday, 18 March in a post with the names and photos of the soldiers on its X social platform handle as 17 listing the commander, a lieutenant colonel, two majors, one captain, and 13 soldiers.
Speaking when the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Samuel Ogbuku, paid a condolence visit at the Division’s Headquarters in Port Harcourt Barracks on Thursday, Mr. Abdussalam, a major general, said troops will be “firm, strong, decisive and professional” in across operations to arrest the criminals and recover the weapons. He said the Chief of Army Staff, Taoreed Lagbaja, issued a directive to the troops carrying out the operation. The army chief further said the troops would continue to be in the creeks until the hoodlums were arrested and weapons recovered. He restated that “propaganda, arm-twisting, blackmailing, intimidation, and false narratives” would not distract troops from staying on course to achieve their objectives.
Mr Abdussalam called on the people of the Niger Delta Region to go about their normal activities. The army chief appealed to people in the communities to assist the troops with information about the location of the fleeing criminals and the weapons that were carted away by the hoodlums. “If we allow criminals to continue to attack our security forces, there will be anarchy,” he said. He emphasized that troops would not rest until all perpetrators and accomplices involved in the murder of the military personnel were apprehended.
