Activist and former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has apologised to the Nigerian Army (NA) for posting a video purportedly showing Okuama community in Ughelli South local government area of Delta State under military attack following the killing of 16 Army personnel of the 181 Amphibious Battalion in the State last Thursday.
The viral videos show some houses on fire and was allegedly blamed on the Army as a reprisal attack on the community where the Commanding Officer of the Army Battalion, three other senior officers and 12 soldiers were ambushed and killed by suspected youths of the community.
But, Sowore, who just returned to his family in the United States of America last week after about five years of being on trial in Nigeria for alleged terrorism, said he had discovered that the video was false as it depicts a different event that happened in the neighbouring Bayelsa State and not Delta State.
Taking to his X handle (formerly Twitter) on Monday night, Sowore, who said he had since deleted the misleading videos, however, insisted that the Nigerian Army desist from further reprisal attacks against innocent civilians in Okuama and any other settlement in the Niger Delta region even as he called for impartial investigation into the killing of the Army personnel said to be on a mediatory and peace mission in the Okuama community.
Sowore wrote: “I deleted my earlier videos that showed a burning village in the Niger Delta region that was purportedly from reprisal attacks against Okuama community by the Nigerian Army @HQNigeriaArmy upon new evidence that this was from an old different incident in Nembe, Bayelsa state.
“I apologise for the wrong video. However, I insist that the Nigerian Army @HQNigeriaArmy desist from further reprisal attacks against innocent civilians in Okuama and any other settlement in the Niger Delta region, I call for an impartial investigation to unravel the real culprits involved in killing of Nigerian soldiers in Okuama. The Nigerian Armed forces must refrain from further reprisal attacks againt villages in the area. #RevolutionNow.”
LEADERSHIP reports that Okuama community is said to be involved in a communal clash with neighbouring Okoloba community of Bomadi local government area of the State.
The Defence Headquarters (DHQ), on Monday, gave the names of the slain Army officers and soldiers as Lt. Col. AH Ali (Commanding Officer, 181 Amphibious Battalion); Major SD Shafa; Major DE Obi; Capt. U Zakari, and Sgt. Yahaya Saidu.
Others included Cpl Yahaya Danbaba; Cpl Kabir Bashir; LCpl Bulus Haruna; LCpl Sole Opeyemi; LCpl Bello Anas; LCpl Hamman Peter; LCpl Ibrahim Abdullahi; Pte Alhaji Isah; Pte Clement Francis; Pte Abubakar Ali; Pte Ibrahim Adamu, and Pte Adamu Ibrahim.
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