An inside source who was part of the reinforcement that burnt the houses in Okuama following the killing of the 17 soldiers in the community on March 14 has narrated what they discovered in the community.
According to the report by Vanguard on Monday, the source said that the soldiers were mobilized from Agbarho, and that when they got to Okuama community, they told the people that they came for peace talks.
According to him, the villagers told them that if they came for peace talks, then they should drop their weapons. He said that the Commanding Officer then ordered his men to drop their weapons, and as they did that, the youths immediately took their weapons, then descended on the soldiers and butchered them to death.
It was gathered that after the killing of the soldiers, the military had attacked the community and burnt houses there.
Speaking about the incident, the military source said that when they were burning the houses in the community, someone ran out of one of the houses that was on fire, and they threatened to shoot him if he ran. He said that the person hesitated for a while before he surrendered.
The military source said, “So, we interrogated him on why he remained in the village while all others had fled. His reply was odd and awkward. He answered by saying that it could be the blood on his head. Then, when we asked him how many he had killed, he replied by saying 46.”
He said at that moment, a colleague cocked his gun and wanted to shoot him, but others calmed him down and said that they could use the person to get more information.
He continued, “We discovered six shrines in the community in the process of burning the houses, which are stained with blood. We also burned them, but one of the shrines refused to burn. It was one Hausa soldier who did what he did to set it ablaze.”
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