SaharaReporters had reported that a Commanding Officer, two Majors, one Captain and 12 soldiers of 181 Amphibious Battalion were killed by hoodlums in the Bomadi Local Government Area of the state.
A Niger Delta elder statesman and leader of the Ijaw nation, Pa Edwin Clark, has said it is difficult to believe that the killers of 16 officers and soldiers in Delta State were external mercenaries.
The elder statement therefore urged the relevant authorities on the matter to probe all leaders of the various communities involved in the incident, adding that nobody should be spared among them.
SaharaReporters had reported that a Commanding Officer, two Majors, one Captain and 12 soldiers of 181 Amphibious Battalion were killed by hoodlums in the Bomadi Local Government Area of the state.
The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, on Tuesday, claimed that the killers of 16 military personnel in Delta State may be mercenaries and not Nigerians.
However, Clark, who had previously described the incident as terrible and cruel, said this assertion from Akpabio was too difficult to believe and he proposed that the military and communities collaborate to find those responsible for the murder.
He stated this on Tuesday while answering questions on any Arise Television news show.
He said: “Well that is difficult to believe. I don’t think we should expect this thing. Let’s look at ourselves. As I said, I spoke to the Lt Col on Thursday and he went to the place on Thursday and died.
“Except they had information they were going to Okuama. Otherwise, nobody knew they were going there.
“People to come from outside to waylay them, to surround them is a matter they should investigate. We can’t rule anything out but at the same time let us look at ourselves.
“The leaders of the various communities must be brought together, and find out from them, nobody should be treated as a sacred cow.
“I may say this: I am an Ijaw man and I will be the last person to allow this type of matter to degenerate to a situation whereby we have intercommunal fracas or fight."
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