Tinubu lauds military for restraints carrying a reprisal attack in Delta community
Kunle Sanni
President Bola Tinubu has expressed his gratitude to the army for showing restraint in carrying out a retaliatory attack on the community in Delta State, where soldiers were killed.
Tinubu made this statement during his condolence address at the military cemetery in Abuja on Wednesday.
He also assured that the federal government would provide scholarships to all children, including those yet to be born, of the affected soldiers.
The president also directed that within 90 days, the military should ensure that all the benefits of the departed soldiers are paid to their families.
“The Federal Government will provide a house in any part of our country to each of the families of the four officers and 13 soldiers.
“The Federal Government has also approved scholarships to all the children of the deceased up to the University level.
“The Military must, within the next ninety days, ensure that all the benefits of the departed are paid to their families.
Speaking further, the president also reiterated his stance towards ensuring that the killers of the soldiers are brought to book. He further directed the elders of the Okuoma community to assist the soldiers in their investigation.
“I want to make it clear, once more, that those who committed this heinous crime will not go unpunished. We will find them and our departed heroes will get justice.
“The elders and chiefs of Okuoma also have a duty to help the military in fishing out the gunmen who committed the barbaric crime against our men. May the families of the departed and all their loved ones find the strength to bear the pain of this loss.”
At least 16 Nigerian soldiers were murdered while attempting to quell disturbances between two villages in the South-South state of Delta.
The troops from the 181 Amphibious Battalion, which was deployed in the Bomadi region, were on a peacekeeping assignment in the Okuoma hamlet when they were slain on Thursday, March 14, according to Brigadier General Tukur Gusau in a statement released on Saturday.
Soldiers of the Joint Task Force, led by General Officer Commanding 6 Division, Nigerian Army, Major General Jamal Abdussalam, reportedly recovered fifteen soldiers’ bodies.
