TheCable

President Bola Tinubu has offered scholarships to the children of the 17 soldiers killed in the Okuama community, Bomadi LGA of Delta state.

The president also awarded posthumous national honours to the deceased soldiers.

Tinubu spoke on Wednesday during the burial ceremony of the late soldiers at the military cemetery in Abuja.

The president conferred Members of the Order of Niger (MON) honour on four deceased officers.

Yahaya Sule, a sergeant got Federal Republic Medal 1, while the rest got Federal Republic Medal 11.

He sympathised with the families of the deceased officers, noting that they died on a “mission of peace”.

Tinubu said the elders of the Okuama community must help the military to identify the gunmen who killed the 17 soldiers.

“It is now our duty to protect the families of our departed heroes,” the president said.

“The federal government will provide a house in any part of our country to each of the families of the four officers and 13 soldiers.

“The federal government has also approved scholarships to all the children of the deceased up to the university level.

“The military must, within the next ninety days, ensure that all the benefits of the departed are paid to their families.”

On March 14, 17 personnel of the Nigerian Army were killed while on a peacekeeping mission in the Okuama community in Delta state.

The federal and state governments promised that perpetrators would be arrested to face the wrath of the law.

The names of the deceased soldiers are A.H Ali, D.E Obi, S.D. Ashafa, U. Zakari, , Yahaya Saidu, Danbaba Yahaya, Kabir Bashir, Abdullahi Ibrahim, Bulus Haruna, Sole Opeyemi, Bello Anas, Alhaji Isah, Clement Francis, Abubakar Ali, Adamu Ibrahim, Hamman Peter, and Ibrahim Adamu.