ABUJA, Nigeria – The remains of 17 military personnel killed in Okuama community in Delta on March 14, have arrived the National Military Cemetery, Abuja, for burial.
The bodies, which arrived at about 2:26pm on Wednesday, were conveyed by the Military Ambulance Emergency vehicles and FCT Ambulance Emergency services among others, reports News Express.
In attendance are the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa; Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt-General Taoreed Lagbaja; Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Hassan Abubakar, and Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla. The Deputy Senate President, Jibrin Barau; and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas are also present.
Governors Sheriff Oborevwori (Delta), Duoye Diri (Bayelsa), Usman Ododo (Kogi), Uba Sani (Kaduna), Hope Uzodimma (Imo), and Abba Yusuf (Kano) are already seated at the burial site.
President Bola Tinubu joined the solemn assembly at exactly 04:10pm.
Also, distraught family members and relatives of the slain personnel as well as wives of other military officers were also on ground.
It would be recalled that the troops of 181 Amphibious Batallion, Bomadi Local Government Area of Delta State while on peace mission to Okuoma Community were surrounded and killed by some irate youths in the community.
The incident occurred when the troops responded to a distress call after the communal crisis between the Okuoma and Okoloba communities both in Delta State.
The personnel comprised one Lieutenant Colonel, two Majors, one Captain and 13 soldiers.
The officers are Commanding Officer 181 Amphibious Battalion, Lt. Col. A.H Ali; Maj S.D Shafa (N/13976); Maj D.E Obi (N/14395) and Capt U Zakari (N/16348).
The soldiers are SSgt Yahaya Saidu (#3NA/36/2974); Cpl Yahaya Danbaba (1ONA/65/7274); Cpl Kabiru Bashir (11NA/66/9853); LCpl Bulus Haruna (16NA/TS/5844); LCpl Sola Opeyemi (17NA/760719); and LCpl Bello Anas (17NA/76/290).
They also include LCpl Hamman Peter (NA/T82653); LCpl Ibrahim Abdullahi (18NA/77/1191); Pte Alhaji Isah (17NA/76/6079); Pte Clement Francis (19NA/78/0911); Pte Abubakar Ali (19NA/78/2162); Pte Ibrahim Adamu (19NA/78/6079) and Pte Adamu Ibrahim (21NA/80/4795).
