Joel Osaigbovo Aluge, Reporting, Benin City
The Nigerian Army says it would be burying soldiers killed in Okuoma community of Delta State on Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at the National Cemetery, Abuja.
A statement posted on the Nigerian Army’s X handle on Tuesday slated the burial by 3:p.m.
Accordingly, President Bola Tinubu would be the Special Guest of Honour at the event.
At least 17 military personnel lost their lives during the communal clash between Bomadi and Okuoma communities.
The personnel attached to the 181 Amphibious Battalion while responding to a distress call got ambushed and killed.
After the killing, some reports alleged that the military was planning a reprisal attack on the Okuoma communities involved.
On the other hand, the Defence headquarters denied the allegations and slammed the community.
It added, no amount of propaganda would stop culprits from arrest.
Also, the Defence Headquarters vowed that there would be an injurious consequences.
However, it has released the names of the Army personnel killed during the peace mission in Delta.
Meanwhile, Tinubu and the Senate ordered the military to apprehend the killers of the military men.
In carrying out the order, Truth Live News gathered on Sunday that the military combed the warring communities and arrested a lot of persons, including three prime suspects.
The President declared that the Defence Headquarters and the Defence Chief had full authority to bring anybody responsible to justice.
Also, retired army generals and civil society organisations lambasted the killers of the soldiers and called for their apprehension and speedy prosecution in order to serve as a deterrent to other criminal elements.
Recall, in his condolence message to the families of the slain soldiers president Ahmed Bola Tinubu demanded justice for them.
He gave the Defence Chief authority to arrest suspects in connection to the crime.