Olusegun Obasanjo, the former president of Nigeria, responded in an interview when asked if he regretted burning down the Odi Community in Bayelsa State in 1999....CONTINUE READING
This comes after 16 Nigerian Army soldiers were killed on Thursday in the Delta State communities of Okuama and Okoloba by some youths after the army reacted to a distress call following a communal disturbance that broke out in the village. One Colonel, two Majors, and twelve more soldiers were slain in the ambush.
However, while speaking in the interview, Obsanjo revealed that there’s nothing he did in his administration that he regretted. When asked about the Odi Community massacre, the former President said he did what he had to do.
According to him, he said, “when I sent the police whose job is to protect the people and they were killed. I sent the soldiers, they were killed. What do you expect me to do? Fold my arms? If you were in my shoes, what would you have done?”
The Odi massacre was an attack carried out on November 20, 1999, by the Nigerian Armed Forces against the predominantly Ijaw town of Odi in Bayelsa State. The attack was due to an ongoing conflict in the Niger Delta over indigenous rights to oil resources and environmental protection.
It is estimated that over 900 civilians were killed in the attack after some gangs in the community had killed 12 Officers of the Nigerian Police…CONTINUE READING>>
