Odi: Justice at last

Life has finally returned to Odi, the town which was destroyed by military invasion under the Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration. And with the recent court judgement on the compensation, the Ijaw people of Bayelsa state will definitely heave a sigh of relief.

The town, Odi

Former President Obasanjo

Odi is a village on the bank of River Nun, in Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area of Bayelsa state of the Niger Delta area in Nigeria. Before the massacre, the Ijaw town had a pre-1999 population of about 60,000 people and it was the second largest town in the state. It also boasts of being the largest number of most educated people in the region.

The inhabitant of the rural community survive through fishing, farming, harvesting and processing of oil palm produce, and trading. It is an oil community, and Shell Petroleum Development Company is present and controls three oil wells there.

Materially, Bayelsa could be described as one of the poorest places on the surface of earth. This is so, in spite of the fact that its watery lands supply a huge amount of Nigeria's enormous oil wealth from which numerous billionaires and millionaires have sprouted up in Nigeria's strange history.

The town which has 11 clans was described as a very calm place to visit especially visitors who come from neighbouring villages to make use of the Professor Turner Isoun Library.

What led to the attack by the military?

A group of lawless elements who had taken refuge in the area was reported to have abducted six policemen. It was later reported that despite tile intervention of social movements in the Niger Delta and elsewhere in the country and Bayelsa State government officials, the law officers were killed by the hoodlums. This was then followed by President Obasanjo issuing a 14-day ultimatum to the government of Bayelsa State to produce the miscreants, or he Obasanjo will proclaim a state of emergency.

Unfortunately, in early November, 1999, a massive brigade of Nigerian army invaded the historic town with a mandate to fish out local bandits for a national crime. Thereafter, a major military operation commenced, via the use of heavy artillery, grenade launchers, mortar bombs and other sophisticated weapons.

Tragically, Odi, which runs along the left hand side of Rivers Nun as one enters from Patani (East/West) Road, was completely wiped out in less than a day. About 3,000 people were reportedly maimed, killed and raped while all the buildings were levelled, except just three buildings - a church, a bank and a public health centre. Even livestock, poultry or other domestic animals took to their heels; libraries and educational materials were also not spared.

Description of Odi after the attack

A writer, Ufot Essien described Odi as a case study of a people living in progressive poverty. “Only one year ago, the Odi people were living in their own homes, going about their businesses as they waited for another day-break. But as in a dream, the people woke up one morning to face a threat. They all ran for dear lives, but before they returned, all they had gathered in life were no more. Men of the Nigerian Army had sacked the town reducing it to rubble and ruins - in almost its natural state.”

Monday Tonye, a villager, who survived the onslaught, described the scene then as a war zone. He describes Odi after the massacre as a virgin land because only thing one could see then were weeds and trees overgrown on the once-upon-a-time a lively village. Tonye, who has been to Angola, said his village reminds him of how Luanda, the Angola capital looks like after the war.

The remains of Odi

Meanwhile, another indigene, who incidentally is the chairman of Odi Security Committee and Vice-chairman, Rehabilitation Committee, Chief Millionaire Asangha explained that their people are quiet and peace loving people. “I have said it over and over again. Those hoodlums that reportedly beheaded the policemen were not from Odi.”

Tonye also claimed that the boys who carried out the attack on the first troop sent by the then President Olusegun Obasanjo were not indigenes of Odi. According to him, “They only have their grandmothers in the village, they don’t reside in the village.” He alleged that apart from raping, maiming and killing, the soldiers also looted some of the buildings before they were razed.

When our correspondent paid a visit, 13 months after the massacre, he said what he experienced could be compared to what was witnessed when the founders of Abuja paid their first to the now Federal Capital Territory, FCT.

The indigenes, Gbagi were said to have run into the bush at the sound of footsteps of strangers or moving cars. That was the same scenario in Odi as survivals take to their heels while some hid themselves in the nearby bush at the sound of strangers of moving vehicles, for the fear of the unknown. These were people who were always willing to welcome visitors and used to the latest cars in town.

Tonye disclosed that some of the people who escape the attack were those who work in the neighbouring villages especially those who pile their trades in Yenagoa. “Some people work in Yenagoa and only return to their homes and families during the weekends.” He claimed that the town was smelling and stinking for months due to the number of people that were killed and abandoned on the road or dumped in the water.

According to him, the remaining people who survived the attack quickly took their belongings and left for the neighbouring villages for fear of being attacked for the second time.

Six years ago, when our correspondent visited Odi for the burial of a friend’s uncle, he discovered that Odi still remains underdeveloped, impoverish, highly and grossly unplanned. It was a region that was in desperate need of recovery.

From the very beginning of Odi, either roofless houses or heaps of ruins were evident where homesteads once stood -lining the streets. Except the tarred road that links Odi with Patani Road, the others are sandy roads or paths where heaps of sands, make driving difficult. And of all, only one major sandy road that runs parallel with River Nun leads one through the small suburban settlement. Charred remains of bombed, burnt and destroyed houses greet every visitor into Odi. 

Vivid accounts of some indigenes who survived the onslaught

Fidiowei Asamaower

Fidiowei Asamaower presently resides in Yenagoa where he is taking refuge. According to him, “When they started shelling our town, we all ran. We ran into the bush, stayed inside the swamp while some of us climbed on top of trees so that they can get their clothes dry in the sun.

“There was no food to eat, so we have to eat these little bush fruits. There are some fruits we normally eat when we go into the bush to farm. So we were feeding on those things for three days.

Some indigenes of Odi during the rebuilding of the village

“When we stopped hearing gunshot, we felt maybe the soldiers must have gone. When we came very close to the town to peep, we saw smoke everywhere. We saw them destroying all the buildings except some few thatched houses. All the storey buildings, even my father's house were burnt. You can only see ashes in Odi now.”

Mrs Irurua

Mrs Irurua was one of the victims of the attack. She was in her house with her husband; a 90-year-old man when soldiers walked into her house, killed her husband and held her hostage. She relates her sad and pathetic story.

“I was in the house with my husband when the soldiers came. They had already set fire around the house before I noticed their presence. I told my husband that we should leave the house. He was reluctant and as I persuaded him, soldiers heard our noise; they came to the door and ordered us out. As we came out, I was pushed aside and thereafter they shot my husband.

“The soldiers then took me to a house where I met some other elderly people who were being detained. I told them that the soldiers have killed my husband. The leader of the soldiers said his men killed nobody. But I insisted that my husband was killed by his men, as I was arguing with him, I saw the man who shot my husband passing by and I drew the attention of the commander of the soldiers to this. I said this is the man who shot my husband.

“But the commander insisted that nobody killed my husband. But I was sure that the man that killed my husband was the one I identified. But the commander said the man should go away so he went away. The following day, I complained again that they have killed my husband and left his corpse in the sun. For three days I pleaded with the soldiers before they eventually agreed to bury him. Even then, he was not properly buried; they merely dug about one foot and put the corpse there so the corpse was not properly covered with earth. The next day I complained that the corpse was not properly buried and that most parts of the body particularly the face and the head were still outside.

“The military commander then said since there were no young men in the town, some women should accompany me to where my husband was buried. So my younger sister and two other women put more earth to cover the head. If you go to the grave you will see that one side is higher than the other side. The higher side is the earth we put. I never expected that the soldiers would do this kind of thing to my husband and also destroy our house. They have transformed me into someone who has lost her husband and has also become homeless.”

Tombara Gagariga:

“We heard it over the radio that everyone should come back to the village and so we brought our mother home, only to discover that everything in the house has been burnt down. We have not seen our grandmother. She was in the house when we took our mother to Port Harcourt. We have not seen the man who was living with either, but we were told that he fled to the bush when the soldiers came. He could not carry an old woman, so he left and ran away.

“When the government said everybody should come back home we thought the houses were intact, we thought everyones property was intact because what we heard over the radio was that the soldiers were coming to arrest some robbers. We never expected that they would come and burn down houses and loot properties. A lot of our things have been looted because we cannot see their traces in the ashes of the things burnt down. Our television sets, video sets, our boxes, (some of them are fire proof), our clothes, everything has been removed.

“What they cannot carry they have destroyed. You can see that our generator and other things have been destroyed. You can also see that they have written several things on the wall of our house. I don't know what they mean. If you go inside you will see the kind of things they have written: ‘Bayelsa State will be silenced,’ ‘Odi will talk no more.’

“From all indications they were living here, we can see our pots and other things they were using to cook. When they were leaving, they destroyed everything. Can the Army be so mean also to destroy Bibles, plates and the things they used inside the house? Even the house, they used as a cover, they burnt down before leaving. Can they be so mean? Even during the civil war, houses were not destroyed like this. I have not seen this type of a thing in my life.”

Mr. Jones Lugbo

“In the afternoon of November 20, we received information that the military wants to attack Odi. No sooner than we received the information, we started receiving some artillery bombardments. In the process five ‘Asawana’ boys were killed. Their heads were cut off and their bodies were beyond recognition. Only two could be recognised.

“After a while, we started hearing rifles and some shelling until around 5p.m. In the morning, we started seeing soldiers. The next thing we saw was that they started destroying all the buildings with their weapons. They continued the destruction from Oborubeinghe quarters to the end of the town and back again. We all ran into the bush and we were peeping from there. In Odi, you could only see the First Bank office and the Police Post. Even King Bolo, the King of Odi was shot in the leg simply because he protested against the destruction of the buildings.

“To be candid, if we are to estimate the destruction, it is more than five billion Naira, because you can't see any building again. The only buildings you can see at Odi are thatched buildings and mud houses. We were in the bush for three days. Mosquitoes and other insect bite us and we almost starved to death since there was no food. I eventually escaped from Odi together with some other people through the bush. Then we swam across the River Nun. We were two, we swam across to Sampou then from there, we escaped through another creek. We got to Gbarain, then to Okolobiri, then through bush path we came to Yenagoa.

“To add more to my problem, I was a victim of the fight between the OPC and Ijaw people in Lagos. During the incident, our family head was attacked and his hand was cut off while a relative was attacked with acid. I lost all my property as a result of the incident. I returned home from Lagos hoping that when I come home I will have rest of mind. But to my surprise, my three-bed room flat in Odi was destroyed. In fact, I don't know where to lay my head.”

Rebuilding process of Odi

Consequently, the Odi community set up a Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Committee headed by Capt. J. F. Tombri and Chief Asangha as his deputy. The committee enjoyed responses from both international humanitarian organisations and some oil companies.

Chief Asangha revealed then that they got cash donation of N2.5million and N1 million from Shell and Agip respectively. The then governor of Bayelsa state, Chief DSP Alamieyeseigha also gave the village a local government and a health centre as part of his efforts to rebuild the town.

Before the committee was set up, some villagers were seen rebuilding their houses but there was no sign by any government agency rebuilding the village. Incidentally, former minister of Science and Technology, Prof. Turner Isoun’s house was affected by the attack including his library in the village. Recall that the military promised some years back to rebuild Odi but no signs of their intervention.

Allegations and condemnations by human right group

There were allegations in some quarters that Odi was attacked to serve as a lesson for other Niger Delta areas who were agitating for resource control then. And who were also enjoying the support of their State governors which provoked the then President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Recall that the then Bayelsa state governor, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha was not in good terms with Obasanjo and incidentally, he was the president of the Ijaw Nation Worldwide.

Also recall that the legitimate struggles of the peoples of the Niger Delta for self- determination, resource control, environmental justice, cultural self-expression and genuine participation in determining the conditions under which oil companies operate in the area was started by late Ken Saro-Wiwa before he was killed by the late General Sani Abacha junta.

Meanwhile, executive director, Civil Liberties Organisation, CLO Nigeria, Abdul Oroh was one of the human right groups that condemned the invasion of the military.

He alleged that the Odi invasion by their investigation was premeditated. According to him, “It was carefully planned to annihilate the people in order to make things smooth and easy for the oil companies. The invasion was called ‘Operation Hakuri II’ by the then Minister of Defence, General T.Y. Danjuma.”

According to Oroh, he said Danjuma during a briefing of the Ministerial Conference on November 25, explained that Operation Hakuri II on Odi and other communities of the Niger Delta thus: “This Operation Hakuri II was initiated with the mandate of protecting lives and property - particularly oil platforms flow stations, operating rig terminals and pipelines refineries and power installation in the Niger Delta.”

Oroh claimed that the soldiers were on drugs or were fed with divisive propaganda to motivate their punitive expedition. “There is nowhere in the world where battalions of troops - the airforce, army and navy - are sent to arrest a few miscreants. The military action in Odi not only violated sections of the 1999 Constitution, it was inconsistent with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

“The actions of the soldiers in Odi amounted to genocide and were clearly inconsistent with Article 5 of United Nations Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officers.”

Some Human Rights representatives

Executive director of Environmental Rights Action, Nnimmo Bassey claims that nearly 2500 civilians were killed but the government put the death toll at 43, including eight soldiers.

Way forward

The executive director of CLO suggested that an independent Judicial Commission of Enquiry be conducted into the military action Odi with a view to determining the circumstances surrounding the President's unconstitutional action, investigating the atrocities committed by soldiers and punishing the perpetrators.

He also advised that a complete reconstruction of Odi be embarked upon urgently by the federal government and its inhabitants resettled, rehabilitated and compensated adequately.

Recall that about 13 years ago, Odi was attacked by the General Victor Malu-led Nigerian military. The attack came in the context of an ongoing conflict in the Niger Delta over indigenous rights to oil resources and environmental protection.

Incidentally, the former President Olusegun Obasanjo said he has no regret for the action he took at Odi. He also suggested the same method to the current President Goodluck Jonathan for the Boko Haram sect.

Meanwhile, the injustice meted out to the Ijaw community which attracted condemnations across the globe was taken to the court of law by various civil organisations.

Delivering judgment in a class suit No FHC/PH/CP/11/2000 recently, Justice Lambo Akanbi of the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt, described the military invasion of the community by troops of the Nigerian Army as genocidal and a gross violation of the rights of the people of the community to life and property ownership.

The plaintiffs, Professor Kobina Keme-Ebi Imananagha, Chief Ndu Gwagha, Chief Shadrack Agadah, Mr. Idoni Ingezi and Mr Nwaka Echomgbe, had urged the court to declare the military invasion, as well as all the violence meted to the people of the community and their property were “a gross violation of the people’s fundamental human rights to life, dignity, personal liberty.”

Represented by Lucius Nwosu (SAN); Lawal Rabana (SAN) and Ifedayo Adedipe (SAN), the plaintiffs had approached the court to plead for N20 billion compensation as well as some other reparations.

However, counsel to the minister of Defence in the matter, Mallam Jimoh Adamu, attempted stalling the judgment delivery by claiming his principal was not served with court processes on the case, but the judge dismissed the objection, stating that the records showed otherwise.

Delivering the judgment, Justice Akanbi, noted that claims by counsel to the President about the mission of the troops to Odi were all false, citing a recent account given by President Goodluck Jonathan on the television, where he asserted that those killed were not militants, but innocent community people, a total departure from the counsel’s claims.

The court however ordered the federal government to pay the Odi community a mandatory sum of N37.6 billion within 21 days as compensation for the military invasion.

Kennedy J. Akaluogbo, an activist believes that the judgement is a testimony of the gross actions meted against the people of Odi-Community in November, 1999 by the then President Obasanjo. He said after voting en-mass for him six-months ago in a democratic election. Despite all his short-comings, he has consistently shown no sign of remorse or apology to the people of Odi-Community even after leaving Office till date.

He described him as a blood tasty soldier in civilian clothing. “The federal government should pay the N37.6 billion in 21 days to Odi-Community as the Court pleases.”

Political analysts have commended the court ruling and also want the same to be done for the people of Zaki-biam in Benue state, another village invaded by the military under former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration.