The Defence Headquarters had on Thursday declared
Oghenerukevwe among eight persons wanted in connection to the murder of the
army personnel.
Among those declared wanted are Ekpekpo Arthur, a professor
of physics at the Delta State University; Akeywiru Omotegbono, Andaowei
Bakrikri, Igoli Ebi, a lady; Akata David, Sinclear Oliki, and Reuben Baru.
Before turning himself in, the monarch released a statement
to plead his innocence.
“I am very surprised that my name as the monarch of the
kingdom will appear in the list of wanted persons. I have no hand in the
killings, I have no hand in encouraging anybody to kill anybody, it is against
my philosophy as a human being and my faith as a Catholic,” he said.
“It is a serious crime against humanity and they need to
look at the appropriate places and do thorough investigation to know all those
who have committed this and bring them to book and let justice prevail.
“I am not a party to this and like I have said earlier, the
state government is aware of the turbulence I have been going through and as I
speak, an arrangement was made by the government to invite the opponents
recently just before this happenings.”
After the killing of the army personnel, President Bola
Tinubu and the military high command promised that the perpetrators would be
brought to justice.
Speaking during the burial ceremony of the late personnel,
Taoreed Lagbaja, chief of army staff (COAS), said it was “highly demoralising”
that the soldiers were killed by those they were equipped to protect.
The army chief added that it took over 72 hours of search to
recover the vital organs of some of the deceased soldiers.
