The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has said those responsible for the killing of 17 military personnel at Okuama community in Delta State are not residents of the Niger Delta communities.

Mr Akpabio stated this during plenary on Tuesday.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how the soldiers were killed in an attack in Okuama community in Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State, last Thursday.

Military authorities earlier said they were killed while on a mission to maintain peace between two warring communities – Okuama and Okoloba in the state.

On Monday, the Nigerian Army released the names and photos of the 17 slain soldiers.

During Tuesday’s plenary, Abdulaziz Yar’adua (APC, Katsina Central), presented a motion on the killing, calling for a proper investigation and identification of the culprits.

Mr Yar’adua, chairman of the Senate Committee on Army, also called for collaboration between the Nigerian military and the Nigerian police to prevent such occurrences in future.

Many of the senators condemned the killing and supported the motion when it was put to debate.

Mr Akpabio, who hails from Akwa Ibom State in the Niger Delta region, in his contribution, maintained that the culprits may not be residents of the region.

He urged his colleagues not to conclude that the attackers are people of the Niger Delta communities.

“See, I don’t want you to conclude. I do not believe that these people are from Niger Delta, those who do the killings because we respect men and women in uniform. That is why I am saying that your additional prayer should actually be to carry out a thorough investigation to know whether these people are mercenaries from outside Niger Delta who came to commit this crime because I don’t think these people are Niger Deltans.

“We are not at war to lose such a large number of personnel. No community will go to the extent of doing this kind of thing. I don’t think they are from Niger Delta.

“So, I think the first point is that we should first establish the culprits who committed these crimes. We must take this seriously. Supposing they are not from Niger Delta, supposing they are not even Nigerians and we now come and be giving relief materials to…people should bear their consequences of their characters, we will not support relief materials,” Mr Akpabio said. (Premiumtimes.ng)