The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt-Gen Abdulrahman Danbazzau, has given a posthumous award of “Army Purple Heart” to seven fallen soldiers in the Niger Delta crisis.

Danbazzau gave the award during the burial of seven of the 17 soldiers suspected to have been killed during last year’s military/militant clash in Delta.

The soldiers, buried on Thursday at Effurun Barracks, were initially declared “missing in action” by the military after an ambush by militants of defunct Camp 5, in May, last year.    

The remaining, two senior officers and eight soldiers, are still considered “missing in action” since in military tradition, no soldier is declared dead until there is concrete evidence.

Danbazzau, represented by the Chief of Administration, Army Headquarters, Major-Gen. Abudulmalik Jubrin, said the award was for the courageous commitment of the soldiers.

He said that the departed soldiers exhibited exceptional gallantry by opting to pay the supreme price in the defence of the fatherland.

According to him, the deceased have proved themselves worthy of their professional military training and orientation and have contributed immensely to the relative peace prevailing in the Niger-Delta today.

The JTF spokesman, Lt-Col Timothy Atingha, explained to newsmen that the Nigerian Army’s “Purple Heart” was for those who exhibited extraordinary gallantry in the face of imminent danger and death.

  Atingha remarked that the deceased would benefit fully from the numerous benefits outlined in the Army’s terms of service.

He said that these benefits included scholarship for the children of the dead soldiers from primary to the university level.