The killing of 17 soldiers in Delta State of Nigeria last week has continued to elicit controversies in the country as the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio said the killers might be hired mercenaries.
The attack was launched on Thursday, March 14, when unknown armed individuals ambushed and killed a team of soldiers who were said to be on a peace mission in Okuama village in Bomadi county.
The commander of the troop, Lt. Col. A.H. Ali, two majors, S.D. Shafa and D.E. Obi and the army captain U. Zakari, were killed along with 13 others.
Akpabio said that the killing “portends danger for the entire society” and called for investigation into the incident to know “whether these people (the killers) were mercenaries from outside Niger Delta.”
Yet, he was quick to add, “I don’t think these people are Niger Deltans. We are not at war. Even in a period of war, you do not lose such a large number of personnel. No community will go to the extent of doing this kind of thing. I don’t think they are from Niger Delta.”
—Ezinwanne Onwuka reports for TruthNigeria from Abuja.
