Tinubu, who made the pronouncement on Wednesday while breaking the Ramadan fast with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, and the House leadership, also approved the conferment of post-houmous national honours on the slain soldiers.
President Bola Tinubu has announced that there will be a befitting burial for the 16 soldiers who were killed while on a peacekeeping mission in Delta State last week.
Tinubu, who made the pronouncement on Wednesday while breaking the Ramadan fast with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, and the House leadership, also approved the conferment of post-houmous national honours on the slain soldiers.
SaharaReporters reported last week that 16 troops of 181 Amphibious Battalion, who were said to be on a peace mission to Okuama community in Delta State, were surrounded by some hoodlums and killed on Thursday, March 14, 2024.
The affected soldiers were a Commanding Officer, two Majors, one Captain and 13 soldiers.
SaharaReporters reported on March 20, 2024 that Nigerian military had arrested at least three suspected killers of the slain military personnel.
However, addressing his guests at the breaking the Ramadan fast, President Tinubu expressed his heartfelt condolences to the families of the bereaved families and pledged that the sacrifices of the fallen heroes would never be in vain.
He said: "Let us pray for Nigeria, let us see our country go through this. I accept the sympathy and on behalf of the country we saw your messages for the loss of the lives of our military men. We have to salute them as our heroes, responding to distress call they met the end of their lives in a savagery manner.
"Let us work to sympathise and symbolise the fact that they are worth the sacrifices they have made for Nigeria. We salute all our men and women in uniform and we sympathise with them. I will so make further pronouncement; they must have befitting burial and they will have national honours.”
"Tonight, we are not going to do Idi Amin – retaliate. Though as we go, pray for our elderly, pray for our people who have passed on. May Allah grant all our prayers and our heart desires and set Nigeria on the part of glory and share your history of greatness and you will be part of our tomorrow's today," he appealed.
Idi Amin Dada Oumee, who died on August 16, 2003, was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. He ruled as a military dictator and is considered one of the most brutal despots in modern world history.
His rule was characterised by rampant human rights abuses, including political repression, ethnic persecution, extrajudicial killings, as well as nepotism, corruption, and gross economic mismanagement.