Okuama: Army should spare innocent lives, go after killers

The killings at Okuama, Delta State, is too much for the Nigerian Army to bear. Nigerian soldiers leave their sons, daughters, wives and their aged parents to go to battle to protect the lives of and properties of citizens. It is a pity that the same citizens are the ones killing soldiers.

Where are the killers now? Why did they go into hiding? I truly cannot tell how the family members of the slain soldiers would be feeling now following the death of their loved ones.

I plead with chief of army staff not to transfer their aggression onto innocent citizens of Okuama community in Delta state. The military should go after the real killers but spare the lives of innocent citizens.

A Yoruba proverb says: Bi ara Ile eni ba nje kokoro buburu, ti ako ba so fun, wuruwuru e ko ni he ki asun loru o. It means: if your neighbour is doing something bad under your nose and you are aware but instead of exposing him, you keep quiet, if his bad deeds escalate and get known to the public, it is then you will never sleep with your two eyes closed.

Those who carried out the dastardly act have escaped, but the innocent citizens who could have exposed them long time ago cannot sleep with their eyes closed in their community.

Once again, I want to plead with the soldiers to spare the lives of the innocent residents of Okuama community. My heartfelt condolences go to the victims’ family members and their colleagues. We don’t want this to repeat itself again in Nigeria. It is unfair to waste the lives of our soldiers.

Jimoh  Mumin, Ibadan

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