Abia State Governor, Dr Alex Otti and the Brigade Commander, 14 Brigade Ohafia, Brigadier General Olusola Diya, have vowed to smoke out whoever was directly or remotely involved in the killing of five soldiers at Obikabia Junction, near Aba, last Thursday.
The Governor said during a condolence visit to the headquarters of the 144 Battalion of the Nigerian Army, Asa in Ukwa West LGA, to commiserate with the widows of the slain military personnel, that the dastardly and irresponsible act committed by criminals who want to destabilize the State would not be ignored.
“Let me start by sending out words of sympathy to the Nigerian Army, the Brigade Commander himself and most importantly the families of the five fallen heroes.
“It’s as if General Diya was with me at the last place that we went to where I had promised everybody that was listening to me that we would smoke out whoever is remotely connected to this killing, whoever they are, wherever they are, wherever they run to.
“We, as a government, will continue to condemn this dastardly act, a very irresponsible act committed by criminals who do not want any good for society.
“It’s very sad but then, it has happened and because it has happened, we will need to move on but we cannot move on without identifying those who are responsible.”
The Governor pledged to work closely with all security agencies in the State to ensure that no stone would be left unturned to fish out the preparators and bring them to book.
According to him, “We are going to work as we have always done with security agencies particularly the intelligence unit of the security agencies to ensure that we leave no stone unturned.”
In addition to the N25 million bounty on anyone with useful information that would lead to the apprehension of the criminals, Governor Otti also announced automatic scholarships for the deceased children to the university level. He promised to ensure that the scholarship is legalized by the state House of Assembly to ensure that successive governments continue in the trajectory.
Brigadier General Diya also hinted that the army was not relenting in the efforts to apprehend the perpetrators of the heinous act, disclosing that they have been gathering intelligence to bring whoever is directly or remotely connected to the killing to book.
He disclosed that two vehicles belonging to the Army were burnt, weapons carted away and five personnel lost their lives during the unfortunate attack.