Nigerian Army Releases Photos, Names Of Soldiers Killed In Delta

The Nigerian army on Monday shared photos and names of soldiers killed last week in Delta State, following a deadly attack.

The attack took place on March 14 when the soldiers were trying to maintain peace between two fighting communities: Okuama and Okoloba.

The list released on the Nigerian Army's X handle, formerly known as Twitter, mentioned a total of 17 names. A previous statement by President Bola Tinubu mentioned that 16 officials were killed during the mission.

In the post, the army mentioned the commander of the team Lieutenant Colonel AH Ali alongside two majors: SD Shafa and DE Obi. Furthermore, the list also mentioned Captain U Zakari's name and photo.

Additionally, there were 13 more soldiers' names and photos in the post.

The names were announced just one day after Tinubu said he had given "full authority" to the Nigerian military to bring to justice anybody found to have been responsible for the deadly attack on armed forces in Delta state.

Tinubu highlighted that this incident demonstrated the dangers faced by servicemen and women in the line of duty, saluting them for their heroism, courage and uncommon grit and patriotism.

Aside from releasing names, the Nigerian Army on the same day revealed the troops were able to rescue 16 kidnap victims in Kajuru, located in Kaduna State.

"Nigerian Army troops deployed in 1 Division area of responsibility in Kaduna State have successfully averted a kidnap attempt by a violent extremist and insurgent group and rescued the abductees in Tantatu Community of Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State," the army posted.

This operation was done on March 17 around 10:30 p.m. The army explained that they tracked the insurgents who had earlier attacked the community in numbers and abducted some of the villagers as hostages.

It added, "On arriving the scene of the incident, the troops tenaciously pursued the insurgents, engaging them in a ferocious exchange of fire and consequently rescuing 16 kidnapped victims. The troops are still exploiting the bushes in continuation of the search and rescue operations to extricate other victims and balk the nefarious activities of the insurgents."

Tinubu said last week that the federal government won't pay any ransom to release kidnapped people and directed security agencies to ensure the return of abducted people in Kaduna and Borno states.