The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, on Tuesday, said the killers of about 16 military personnel in Delta State may be mercenaries and not Nigerians. Some armed men had on Thursday, March 14, attacked and killed 16 personnel of the Nigerian Army during a peace mission to Okuama Community in Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta. Addressing a debate on two merged motions by Senator Abdulaziz Yar'Adua, APC, Katsina Central, and Edeh Dafinone, APC, Delta Central, Akpabio opined that those who killed the soldiers may be mercenaries.
"We are not at war. I don't think they are from the Niger Delta. They may be mercenaries," Akpabio said.
The Senate thereafter ordered the probe into the killings as it has asked its committee on Defence, Army, Navy, and Air Force to liaise with the Military authorities to get more information on the remote and immediate cause of what it described as "a dastardly act."
The senators urged the Nigerian government to recruit more police personnel to relieve the military, which has been saddled with fighting terrorists, bandits, and other non-state actors.
