The Nigerian Army, NA, has vowed to unmask and punish perpetrators of the gruesome murder of two of its personnel in Imo State.
This was contained in a statement issued by the Director, Army Public Relations, Brig Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, on Tuesday, 03 May, 2022.
TheFact Daily reports that gunmen, last Saturday, killed two soldiers at an unknown location in Imo State.
The victims, who were named as A. M. Linus, a Sergeant of the Nigerian Army, and his unidentified wife, who is said to be a lance corporal in the Army, were reportedly beheaded after being shot dead by the gunmen and their corpses dismembered. A gory image of their heads has gone viral on various social media platforms.
In a phone conversation that has equally gone viral, a gunman said, they were aggrieved that the military had been consistently killing innocent residents in efforts to attack them (gunmen).
In the statement issued today, which fingers elements of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, and its armed affiliate, Eastern Security Network, ESN, Nwachukwu, who confirmed the incident when it happened, decried the acton as “gruesome, barbaric and most despicable”.
According to Nwachukwu, Audu M Linus (retired) and Private (Pte) Gloria Matthew were on transit to Imo state for their traditional wedding and to fulfill the traditional rites of conjugating their matrimony, “as the very well respected and cherished Igbo tradition demands”.
He said it was ironical that the dissidents disregarded the fact that Pte Gloria Matthew, as an indigene of Nkwerre LGA of Imo state, had an ethnic affiliation with the people of South East Nigeria.
“This dastardly act, one too many, clearly portends the deep seated hate, desperation and lawlessness with which foot soldiers of IPOB/ESN have being unleashing terror on Ndigbo, whom they claim they are on a mission to protect and emancipate, as well as other innocent Nigerians who are resident or transiting the South East.
This gruesome murder, in which they did not spare even their own child, clearly depicts callousness, impenitence and is indisputably, a brazen act of terrorism perpetrated by IPOB/ESN”, Nwachukwu said.
While assuring that the killers of its personnel do not go unpunished, the NA condoled with the families, relations and close associates of the victims, even as it has commenced investigation to unmask and bring the criminals to book.
The NA further enjoined members of the public to oblige security agencies with actionable information that will lead to the arrest of these criminals.
