The Okuama community in Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State, where sixteen soldiers were killed on Thursday, has been razed.
Residents of the coastal community are said to have fled to neighboring Ughelli for fear of a reprisal by the soldiers who have been patrolling the creeks.
TheFact Daily reported that troops of 181 Amphibious Batallion, Bomadi Local Government Area of Delta State, while on peace mission to Okuoma community in Bomadi LGA of Delta State in Thursday, 14th March, were surrounded by some community youths and killed.
The troops had responded to a distress call following a communal crisis between Okuoma and Okoloba communities, both in Delta State.
A reinforcement team sent to the scene, and led by the Commanding Officer was also attacked by the youths, which led to the death of the Commanding Officer, 2 Majors, 1 Captain and 12 soldiers.
In the early hours of Saturday, 16th March, fourteen lifeless bodies of the slain soldiers were recovered by soldiers of the joint task force under the supervision of the General Officer Commanding 6 division Nigerian Army, Major General Jamal Abdussalam, in the community.
Some of the recovered corpses were said to have been beheaded, while the stomachs and hearts of others were ripped out. At the NDDC jetty in the coastal Delta community, the bodies of the commanding officer and the two killed majors were seen floating by the river bank as others were separated on land.
Meanwhile, manhunt for the killers is still ongoing and some arrests have also been made by the soldiers led by the General Officer Commanding 6 division Nigerian Army, Major General Jamal Abdussalam.
There are strong allegations that some angry soldiers may have been responsible for the destruction of the community after their colleagues were killed.
