PDP urges NASS to commence full investigation on killing of soldiers

THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Monday urged the National Assembly to immediately commence an extensive investigation into the alleged compromises that led to the killing of over 100 Nigerian soldiers by insurgents, particularly as the Buhari Presidency has refused to come forth with explanations on the matter.

In a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, the Party also accused the Buhari Presidency of condoning extra-judicial killing in the country and demanded an immediate forensic inquiry into the reported killing of a principal witness in the Offa robbery incident, Michael Adikwu, in the custody of the Police in Kwara State.

It stated that the legislative investigation on the killing of the soldiers had become necessary following the reports of compromises and the alleged failure of the authorities to promptly act on a reported threat by insurgents to attack the base and other military locations in the area few days before the attack.

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According to the Party, “this is in addition to a disturbing video, circulating in the public domain, showing soldiers, weeks before the attack, giving accounts of their neglect by the authorities, resulting in their vulnerability to insurgents.

“This is particularly worrisome given apprehensions that President Muhammadu Buhari has been distracting the military by dragging our Service Chiefs to participate in his re-election campaign activities, instead of concentrating on their statutory duties

“Moreover, the apparent insensitivity of the Buhari Presidency to the killing as well as alleged moves by the authorities to sweep the matter under the carpet has created despondency among the citizens.”

It urged the National Assembly to unravel the compromises leading to the killing of the soldiers and those behind them and insisted that an inquest into the extra-judicial killing of the principal suspect in the Offa robbery had become necessary following conflicting reports by the police over the cause and circumstances surrounding the death in its custody.

The Party appealed to Nigerians to note that the Police had initially claimed that the witness was killed in the course of arrest but later claimed that he died in the course of the investigation and only to now declared that he was discovered dead just as he was about to be taken to court.

It pointed out that the conflicting reports by the police only pointed towards an attempt to cover a case of extra-judicial killing, ostensibly with a view to mute vital information and derail the course of justice in the matter which had since assumed a political dimension targeted at key opposition leaders.

The Party called for a public investigation into the circumstances surrounding the killing, which would require an open
questioning of all those involved in the arrest and detention of the suspect.