THE military panel of investigation set up to look into the killing of six youths in Agge, Bayelsa State, last weekend, took evidences of witnesses and members of the bereaved families in Warri, Delta State.
The Captain I.A Suleiman-led panel of inquiry, sitting in the Effurun Barracks of the Nigerian Army, took accounts from parents, wives and children of the deceased.
A source at the meeting, said one of the women broke down in tears while recounting the last hours of her late husband.
The six youths were shot dead by troops of the Joint Task Force (JTF), code-named ‘Operation Pulo Shield’, around Agge, of the state, July 23 in yet-to-be explained circumstance.
Coordinator of the JTF Joint Media Campaign Centre, Colonel Onyeama Nwachukwu, in a statement shortly after the incident, said the deceased were sea pirates, who engaged troops in a gun duel.
“On sighting our troops, the sea pirates opened fire and the troops retaliated immediately leading to their killing,” he said.
However, Lieutenant-Colonel Nwachukwu’s claimed was countered by an Ijaw human rights group, Ijaw Peoples Development Initiative, which accused the task force of coldblooded murder.
IPDI, in a statement signed by Comrade Austin Ozobo, said the youth were taken alive by the troops and were later paraded in Agge before being taken to an undisclosed destination where they were executed.
Ozobo corroborated his claim with photograghs, which was allegedly taken during the parade of the six youths in Agge community.
The photo showed six youths handcuffed and stripped to the waist.
Lieutenant-Colonel Nwachukwu could not be reached for comment as of press time.
Meanwhile, Ozobo, who was contacted on telephone, said members of the panel sympathised with the families of deceased and promised to get to the root of the matter, adding that the “families demanded immediate release of the bodies of the deceased persons for a befitting burial.”
Tribune
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