Tears as military buries 20 soldiers killed by terrorists in Niger

• We’re devastated – Families

• We’ll avenge, defence chief vows

There were tears as family members of 20 soldiers and officers of the Nigerian military who were killed by terrorists during an ambush in Niger State were buried on Friday.

The mass burial, which was held at the National Military Cemetery, Abuja, had Minister of Defence, Abubakar Badaru, and his counterpart for state, Bello Matawalle, as well as the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Christopher Musa, in attendance.

Other dignitaries include the Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, who was represented by a former Commissioner for Internal Affairs, Samuel Aruwan; the Deputy Governor of Niger State, Yakubu Garba; the Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Taoreed Lagbaja; Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla; among others.

The military had last week disclosed that a total number of 36 personnel of the armed forces paid the supreme price during the August 14, ambush on Zungeru-Tegina road and the subsequent crash of an evacuation jet in the Chukuba area of Shiroro, all in Niger State.

In interviews with Daily Trust Saturday, the relatives of the fallen heroes described the deaths as “shocking” and irreparable.

We’re devastated – Families

Speaking to our correspondent, Enoch David, a relative of one of the deceased pilots, Anthony Duryumsu, described the young pilot as a goal-getter and disciplined personnel who would be missed by all the members of the family.

He said, “We’re here to pay our respect as a family. He was a dedicated brother, he was so focused, he was dogged, disciplined and a goal-getter. He was a person who would never turn his back against his family.

“This is actually a devastating situation. We the family only find solace in God. It is not actually easy. It is only God that can comfort us to bear this irreparable loss. He was single, he was born in 2003.”

On her part, Mrs Ada Akabuoye, an elder sister to late Lance Corporal Alaribe Daniel, said there had been anguish among members of the family since they received the sad news considering the fact that the deceased’s father was still alive.

She said, “Late Lance Corporal Alaribe was the last child of his parents. He was the 10th child of the family.

“Honestly, I don’t know how I’m feeling now. The pain is so much. The wound is too much. I don’t know when it will heal. It is only God that can heal us, because my father is alive. He is 91 years old.

“For us to lose him at this age when his elder ones and his father are still alive is so painful. It is only God that can heal us.”

Mrs Naomi Abel, who attended the burial from Gombe State, described the death of Lt US Alkali as a “tragedy and big blow” on members of the family, adding that she was pained majorly because of the two kids and wife left behind.

She said, “It is a tragedy. I feel very sad! He had been a helper in the house, he had been very supportive, he was a wonderful young man. He had two kids. His young wife is here. It is a blow! It is a massive tragedy that we don’t even know what to do, but what can we say?”

A twin brother to late Lance Corporal Ekpeyong Edet said, “My name is Okon Ekpeyong Edet. I’m from Cross River State. The deceased, Ekpeyong Edet, was my twin brother. My father was a retired army personnel. It was my father who retired from the army that told him to join the army. He had been in the army for 17.

“We heard that they sent them to the bush to attack Boko Haram, and before we knew it, they said the terrorists shot him in the hand. “They took him to the hospital and asked the helicopter to come and evacuate them and he died when the helicopter crashed.”

Musa Ciroma, who said late Pogu Ciroma was his cousin, told Daily Trust Saturday, “I lost my cousin during that tragedy and we’re here for his burial. He was a friendly person. Somebody that would never keep people in heart and was a freewill giver. He was loved by all family members and anybody that came his way.

“When I received the news of his death, I was very shocked. It really destabilised me because I didn’t believe it initially. When I got the information, I had to go and reconfirm because they didn’t see his corpse as of that time, but later on, they said they had moved them to the mortuary. It was very sad news to us. He was married with two kids.

Military releases 2 corpses to families

Meanwhile, the military high command earlier released two corpses from among the deceased personnel to the members of their families and they were buried last week according to Islamic rites.

The moderator of the burial programme, Lt Col Agwu, disclosed that although 22 names were listed in the programme of events, 20 would be buried, saying some families had earlier requested the corpses of their sons.

According to the programme of events obtained by our correspondent, the names of the 22 deceased scheduled for burial before two bodies were withdrawn are late Maj SA Oni; late Flt Lt Anthony Duryumsu; late Flt Lt Ibrahim Adamu; late Lt Gm Odusami; late Lt Us Alkali; late Sgt Faruk Mohammed; late Cpl Ibrahim Garba; late Cpl Chiroma Pogu and late Cpl Adama Isaac.

Others are late Cpl Haruna Jamilu; late Cpl Samaila Bashiru; late AB Suleiman (NN); late Cpl Jauro Amos (NAF); late Lance Cpl Sunday Okopi; late Lance Cpl Ekpeyong Edet; late Lance Cpl Alaribe Daniel (NAF); late Lance Cpl Brigss Stephen (NAF); late Lance Cpl Yakubu Ayuba; late Lance Cpl Nura Mohammed; late Pte Habib Aliyu; late Pte Tanko Waje and late Acm Abubakar Abdulrahaman (NAF).

We’ll avenge — Defence chief

In the meantime, Gen Musa has vowed that the military would avenge the killing of its personnel, insisting that none of the adversaries would go scot-free as they “would be hunted down by all means”.

Speaking after laying of wreath on their graves and presentation of the national flags to the deceased’s next of kin, Musa said they joined the family members in their grief, adding that the deaths of their loved ones would not be in vain.

He said, “Today is one of the most difficult days in every commander’s mind, because when you have to bury your own, you feel highly pained. But I want to assure the families that their death is not in vain. We appreciate them, we pray for them and we will ensure that those that did this must pay for it.

“I use this opportunity to call all commanders, all troops all over Nigeria, that we must avenge this. Those that did this, and those that have continued killing our men, wherever they are, we will get them out, we will smoke them out and we will ensure that they never have any other opportunity to kill any other person; that I assure you.

“To those terrorists, we will hunt you down, we will bring you to justice. We will not relent until we get those causing havoc in the country.”

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