Delta massacre: Lawmaker condemns killing, calls for arrest of culprits

A member of the House of Representatives, representing the Bomadi/Patani Federal Constituency of Delta State, has condemned Thursday’s killing of 16 soldiers by alleged youths of the Okuama community in the Ughelli South Local Government Area of the state.

Mutu, who is the Chairman of the Gas Committee in the House, described the action as “barbaric and inhuman,” just as he frowned at the insinuation that the massacre was executed by Ijaws.

Mutu, who is also the Chairman of the Southern Nigeria Caucus in the House of Representatives, made his position on the tragic incident known in a statement issued by his media office on Sunday.

The federal lawmaker, in the emotion-laden statement, said the killings of the 16 soldiers, including a Lt. Col., 2 majors, and one captain of the Nigerian Army, on a peacekeeping assignment in the Urhobo community were “senseless and embarrassing.”

Mutu challenged all relevant security agencies to work round the clock to fish out the killers and bring them to justice.

He warned that the criminals should not escape justice in order to serve as a deterrent to those who may be planning to indulge in such heinous crimes in the future.

He condoled the families of the fallen soldiers, the Nigerian Army, and the Armed Forces for the tragic development.

He also prayed to God to grant the repose of the souls of the gallant soldiers, who were gruesomely murdered while performing patriotic national assignments.

The lawmaker, however, frowned at the distortion of facts about the incident in a section of the press, which linked the fate of the soldiers to Ijaw militias in Okoloba, an Ijaw community in Bomadi Local Government Area of Delta State.

“This is far from the truth of the incident. The Ijaw is not in any way linked or connected to this unjustifiable, barbaric, inhuman, and condemnable act.”

“The facts of the matter are with all appropriate security agencies, and they are in fact in the public domain. The indigenes of Okuama are responsible for these senseless killings.

“Two contingents of troops of the Nigerian Army who were deployed separately on a peacekeeping mission in Okuama, particularly to investigate the killing of an Okoloba boy, were ambushed and wilfully murdered in cold blood in Okuama.

“Their headless and dismembered remains were recovered in the waters of Okuama Community, which is the scene of the crime.

“It’s therefore callous and indiscretionary to link the Ijaw to this heinous crime, which is a national embarrassment.

“It’s wrong for a section of the press to link innocent Ijaw people to this crime, and I seize this medium to debunk such irresponsible reports on the incident.

“I condemn the reports linking the Ijaw with this crime and call on the authors of such falsehoods to retract them and apologise to the Ijaw nation forthwith.

“I also wish to implore all relevant security agencies to ensure that no stone is left unturned to arrest these criminals and prosecute them to atone for the sins they have committed against humanity.

“I console the families of these fallen soldiers, the Nigerian Army, and the Armed Forces in general over this tragic incident,” he noted.

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