The Nigerian Army has accused the Okuama community where military personnel were killed in Delta State of resorting to propaganda.
It said the development confirmed that the killing was a communally orchestrated attack.
At least 15 military personnel were killed by irate youths during a communal clash over a land dispute in Bomadi and Okuoma communities in the state.
The personnel attached to the 181 Amphibious Battalion were responding to a distress call when they were ambushed and killed on Thursday.
The Army, in a statement on Monday, by its Director, Army Public Relations, Maj. Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, lamented that rather than help to provide assistance to arrest the perpetrators of the crime, the community has been dishing out propaganda.
Onyema added that resorting to propaganda showed that the killing of troops was a “communally orchestrated attack against legitimate forces.”
The statement read, “The unfortunate killing of troops of 181 Amphibious Battalion of the Nigerian Army, while on a peaceful and mediatory mission, after a reported case of communal clash between Okuama and Okoloba Communities in Ughelli South and Bomadi LGAs of Delta State respectively is not only despicable but should be unreservedly condemned by all.
“These were troops committed to peace and security of lives and property of citizens and non-citizens alike in the Niger Delta region, murdered in cold blood by an armed youth gang of Okuama community, in the most gruesome, heartless and cruel manner and went ahead to sacrilegiously debase their remains by ripping out their hearts by the very people they were there to protect.
“Regrettably, the community complicit in this dastardly act has resorted to media propaganda and shenanigans, rather than engage in a positive effort to fish out the perpetrators of this heinous crime. This again is a clear indication that the murder of the troops was a communally orchestrated attack against legitimate forces.”
