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.
Mike Ejiofor, a former Director of the Department of State Services (DSS) has demanded an independent probe into the killing of 17 Nigerian Army personnel at Okuama in Bomadi Local Government Area of Delta State.
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 acting Director, Defence Information, Brigadier General Tukur Gusau, who made this known in a statement had said the military personnel were killed on Thursday while on a peace mission to the community.
On Sunday and Monday, there were series of reports that troops invaded communities, killing and burning down properties in a reprisal attack.
However, Mike Ejiofor, while speaking on Channels TV programme, stated that an objective inquiry would incriminate “some very important personalities.”
Ejiofor wondered why a lieutenant colonel, two majors, one captain and 13 other military personnel would be deployed to settle a land dispute.
The former Director urged the Federal Government to set up a “high-powered, independent investigation” to explain the reasons behind the deployment of 17 military personnel including the Commanding Officer of the 181 Amphibious Battalion on a peace-keeping mission to the communities engaged in a land dispute.
“The federal or state government should set up this or harmonise: the state government brings representatives, the federal government brings representatives to form a very high-powered, independent investigation that will come up with an objective report of what happened because as it is now, people are scampering, some people that might be indicted in this investigation, because a lieutenant colonel, two majors cannot on their own just move out on a peace-keeping mission in a community.
“There is so much to this incident that must be found out. The military is a party interested; they cannot undertake such an investigation.
“By now, the Federal Government or the state government must have set up an investigative panel to look into this matter because time is running out.
”We need to get to the root of this matter to know what really happened.
“If there is a peacekeeping, two parties must be involved; people from the two communities must be involved and a neutral ground will be taken, possibly the local government headquarters, if you are talking of peace initiative.”