The Defence Headquarters has confirmed the recovery of the decomposing hearts of some of the army personnel killed in Okuama, Delta State.

It said the hunt for the perpetrators was intensifying, but no significant arrest had been made.

The Director of Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. Edward Buba, told reporters in Abuja that troops were currently conducting clearance operations and cordon and search to recover, among other things, the weapons of the deceased soldiers.

He said their efforts have yielded the recovery of the “decomposing hearts of some of the murdered soldiers.”

Earlier reports had indicated that the people responsible for the soldiers’ deaths also harvested their hearts and other body parts.

On the list of communities in which troops have already conducted operations are the Akugbene, Ukuama, and Okoloba communities in Ugheli and Ugheli South of Delta State, as well as the Ukuama Amusamo, Akwagbe, Arhavwarien, Pirigbene, and Igbomatoro communities also in Delta State.

He said although no significant arrest had been made yet, the DHQ was not unaware of a viral video of a person “admitting to have perpetrated the killing of the soldiers in Delta State.”

He said one advantage of the video is that it “helps to narrow investigations to persons of interest and their cohorts.”

He said: “Accordingly, the state governments and host communities of these personalities are required to assist the investigation in flushing them out.

“There can be no hiding place for perpetrators of such dastardly acts against our nation. This is a clarion call to duty by members of those communities and the state governments.”