Condemnation Trails Alleged Killing of Soldiers, Military Insists No Deaths Recorded

Emmanuel Addeh in Yenagoa

The Bayelsa State Government thursday condemned ‘‘in very strong terms’’, Monday’s alleged ambush and killing of soldiers by unknown gunmen around Letugbene community in Ekeremor Local Government Area of the State.

However, the military insisted thursday that no such deaths were recorded by the Joint Task Force (JTF), the special security outfit deployed to fight criminalities in the Niger Delta.

But in a statement, the Bayelsa State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr. Jonathan Obuebite, expressed “serious regret” over the “unfortunate incident”, describing it as unwarranted, barbaric and totally unacceptable.

According to him, from every account and information available to the government, there was no form of dispute or contending issue to have warranted an attack on soldiers, who were carrying out there legitimate duties.
He stressed that it was purely an act of criminality, “deliberately carried to rubbish the security and peace efforts of the government”.

The Bayelsa government expressed condolences to the immediate families of the “dead soldiers” and the Nigerian Army, calling for a thorough investigation of the incident, with a view to ensuring that everybody found guilty of involvement in any form is brought to book.

“To us, this incident is politically motivated and sponsored by some persons in high places to heat up the state for their selfish interests and as a government, we would not fold our arms and allow a few individuals to rubbish the peace and security we have been able to bring to our state.

“We will support the security agencies in whichever way possible in carrying out their investigations in this matter”, the government noted.

Obuebite added that the state government will resist every move by “mischief makers” to take the state back to its inglorious past, when some politicians used their positions to perpetuate acts of lawlessness and insecurity.
In the same vein, the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) worldwide said that the killing of four soldiers and a civilian by unknown gunmen at Ekeremor was ‘unfortunate and barbaric’.

“ The IYC is sad considering the fact that not too long ago; soldiers were unfortunately murdered at Ogbugbagbene Community in Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State.

“We call on the security apparatus to investigate and unravel those behind these dastardly acts. These unfortunate killings do not reflect the position of the Ijaw people.

“It is not part and parcel of the culture of Ijaw people to take the lives of human beings for no just cause. These actions are anti-Ijaw interest and the communities close to where the killings took place in Bayelsa State”, a statement by Eric Omare, the factional IYC President said.

It added: “The point must be made clearly that these killings is not the collective decision of the people of the communities around where the unfortunate incident took place, hence, in a bid to get at those who committed this heinous crime, innocent members of the communities should be spared.
‘’The community people are also victims of the criminal elements perpetrating criminality in the riverine communities. The security agencies must collaborate with the communities to unravel those behind these acts of criminality rather than making them victims.

“The IYC extends its sympathy to the military authorities and the families of the soldiers and civilian who lost their lives in this unfortunate incident while also expressing our cooperation to wipe out criminal elements from Ijaw communities”, the IYC noted.