*Senate Joint Committee Meets Service Chiefs
NIGERIAN troops have continued the manhunt, searching the creeks and hideouts across Delta and Bayelsa states, for the fleeing militant leader (names withheld) and his gang members, who were suspected to have carried out the killing of 17 soldiers last Thursday, March14, at Okuama in Ughelli South Local Council of Delta State.
The militant leader, whose mother is reported to hail from Okuama, and his father from from Bayelsa State, was said to have been invited by his mother’s kinsmen, who felt constantly intimidated by soldiers in their feud wit neighbouring Okoloba, to assist in defending them.
Soldiers had initially tracked the fleeing militant leader to Igbomorotu in Southern Ijaw Local Council of Bayelsa State, but he also fled the a riverine community before they arrived, which was later allegedly torched by the invading troops.
Now, the search for the gang leader, who was reported to also be engaged in bunkering and often employed by politicians as a thugs during elections, is widening even before the Niger Delta.
In Okuama, there was no let off in the military siege, amid speculation that the military authorities were considering building a barrack there in memory of their fallen colleagues.
Meanwhile, the Senate Joint Committee on Defence, comprising the Army, Navy and Air Force, met with Service Chiefs on Wednesday, March 20, in Abuja.
The joint committee, led by former Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, called on the the federal government to prioritise the issue of security to take precedence over investment in any other sector.
At thee end, Lawan condemned the killing of the soldiers, appealing to Nigerians to support the armed forces by volunteering information that could lead to capture and prosecution of those behind insecurity across the country.
The meeting was attended by the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Christopher Musa; Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt-Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja; Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Hassan Abubakar; and Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla.
The Senate had on Tuesday, March 19, mandated the joint committee to investigate the incident.
