The family members of Private Ukela Samuel, a soldier attached to the 191 Task Force Battalion currently stationed in Borno State are in pain following the brutal killing of their son by Boko Haram insurgents.
Samuel, who hails from Ogbo in Ahoada-East Local Government of Rivers State joined the Nigerian Army in 2017 and had been in the North East since then, visiting home only twice, the family said.
But on Sunday, September 7th, Samuel and other soldiers from his battalion ran into an ambush by the insurgents with his friends saying he was captured and subsequently beheaded.
Barr Nathan Akatakpo, a spokesman for the family, told theportcitynews that the Army failed to communicate them four days after Samuel was killed in battle.
He said that the family had been in a state of agony since Samuel’s friends serving in the same battalion with him leaked information about his tragic death to them.
Although he did not provide the name of the place where the attack took place, the family spokesman said they would not have known of his death save for his comrades in the field.
Speaking further, Barr Akatakpo said the deceased soldier had called days before the operation to inform them he was not comfortable with the area, adding that they encouraged him to stay.
He berated the Army for failing to contact the family, stressing that hearing from the military on the fate of their son would help the family know the next step to take.
Checks by theportcitynews revealed that there had been no official response by the Army to the allegations by the family or reports of killing of soldiers in Borno State.
The Military had been heavily criticised in the past for hiding casualty figures on its side with a report by the Wall Street Journal in August detailing how about 1000 soldiers were secretly buried in mass graves without the knowledge of their families.
