BY JIMITOTA ONOYUME
The ruins brought about by the military action are still visible in Odi kingdom in Bayelsa state. Though some few rich ones have managed to erect new structures on the rumbles left behind by the soldiers on their lands, many, particularly the retirees and fishermen that survived the shock are still battling to put their lives together.

They live in makeshift structures and only point at the rumbles of their burnt buildings to show that they were once proud owners of concrete houses in the kingdom.

The pain, bitterness and anger that natives of the kingdom suffered from the military invasion of the area about 12 years ago are still very strong in the minds of many. On November 20, it will be precisely 12 years the sad incident occurred. The people lost their houses, valuables and economy to the action of the soldiers who took over the area at the instance of the federal government.

They want justice. They want to be compensated. They want to know why the federal government should ignore their call for attention while it caters for those it labelled miscreants in the region, the same group it blamed for the military action in Odi kingdom. They said they were not against the amnesty programme but the government should heed their call to come and rebuild Odi kingdom.

Most victims of the invasion spoke to Saturday Vanguard in Odi with so much emotion. They said 12 years after; the federal government was yet to come up with any justifiable reason for the military action it ordered in the area. And it had also not tendered any apology for the action or compensated the people for the losses suffered.

Victims: Ayaweredomame,Akane, Jeremiah whos left eye was shattered by bullets

Chief Wilson Ayawaredomame who was led out of his makeshift apartment by one of his daughters to speak with Saturday Vanguard shook his head several times when they told him why the newspaper was in the community. “Look at the remains of my five- bedroom flat”, the 80 year- old man said, pointing at the rumbles of a building that had been overgrown by weeds directly in front of where he finally sat down with this reporter. His daughter, Beatrice who aided him to sit down said the father became partially blind after his house and valuables were burnt by the soldiers. “I travelled to Abuja to see my brother when soldiers entered Odi. Unfortunately, when I came back, I saw that my house was destroyed. All my valuables were gone. We are suffering. I had five bedrooms, a parlor, a dining room and a kitchen. Now I am managing in this small place. Government has not deemed it fit to come to our aide”, he said.

Like many others who fled into the bush, Esther Cameroon has not recovered from the trauma she suffered from the incident about twelve years after. She said she was in primary two when the military invasion forced members of her family into the bush and they were there for about two months.

“We all had to run into the bush. We were in the bush for about two months feeding on fish. I was in primary two when it happened. I feel really bad. We lost all our properties, our house was burnt down. Till date, they have not compensated us. My father lost all his documents. Life has not been the same after the sad incident”, she said while sobbing. Pointing at the remains of what used to be her father’s house, she said she could not understand why the Nigerian government would send soldiers after the community.

Baba Sokisa Gbagbara who managed to utter some few words said he was still pained by the demise of his elder brother who died from shock when he came to see that his hard earned house had been allegedly looted and razed down by the soldiers. “I lost everything when they (soldiers) came here and I have not recovered since then. The painful thing is that my elder brother died because of the invasion. He could not stand the shock of losing his house and other important things after retirement. My late brother retired from the medical unit of the army as well. His name is Chief Sinclair Ogien Sokomo. See his grave”, he said pointing at it.

For Julius Morowei, he had not come to terms with why the federal government would pull down a whole community, abandon victims of the military invasion and go ahead to grant amnesty to those it said their actions allegedly led to the military invasion of the area.

“I am an ex service man. I retired as a Sergeant. When they came, we all fled and they destroyed everywhere. We have tried to get help from the federal government after the incident but none has come. The painful thing is that those the government said created trouble in the area are the ones they are taking care of now in the name of amnesty leaving us to suffer”

Jeremiah Ahmadu was among those that sustained bullet injury during the invasion. According to him, a bullet from the soldiers shattered one of his eyes. “All I want is a surgery”, he pleaded.

Chief Ebi Akane is the Chief Security Officer of Odi; he too lost his both parents as a result of the invasion. His house was also razed down. According to him when they came back from the bush after the army had left, he had to erect a tent for his old parents. But probably due to old age, they could not stand the cold weather and the rain and so they passed on. He said the invasion of the kingdom caused a major wreck in the area.

He said Odi kingdom is made up of twenty seven communities and each of the communities lost several lives and valuables to the invasion. “Every family was touched, it was a huge loss to the kingdom as a whole,” he said as he lamented the incident.

“Those who ran into the bush suffered because they had no food, some of them lived on rotten fish. They could not eat fresh fish. Fresh fish does not have taste. This was why they waited for it to decay a little. Many of them died from all kinds of ailment.

“We have about twenty seven communities in all. We buried a lot of our people in the bush. Every family had one bitter story or the other to tell. One of my brothers lost all his six buildings.

“My parents died from the incident. After they burnt my house, we had to set up a tent for them.

You could imagine these old people sleeping in the rain and cold. Sickness came and they died within a space of two weeks. Our women, girls were raped,properties were destroyed.

“We want justice, we want compensation,” he continued. He said the federal government was yet to tell them why it ordered military action against the area.

“The innocent people of Odi want justice, they want to know what happened, why the government ordered military action against us. The government has not told us why Odi was destroyed. They have not explained why soldiers raided our community, raped our women and looted our properties. The federal government waged a war against a defenseless community and destroyed the place. About twelve years now, they have still not told us what we did as a community, why we should suffer this loss as a people.”

When reminded that some Odi youths were accused of killing some police men, his response was that the onus of proof lied on the government that came up with the accusation. “I don’t know anybody who was involved. We only read that some Odi youths killed police, where are the youths? Nobody was declared wanted. We have people from different areas, Ibo, Hausa, Calabar, Yoruba in Odi, so who and who was involved? They have not told us.

If anybody committed any offence, you arrest the person and bring him to justice. We remember the 9/11 attack and how America went after Osama Bin Laden. But in our case, nobody told us anything, all we saw was invasion of our kingdom, “, he said.

Adding to that, Beatrice Nima said it was not true that youths of the area were behind the murder of the policemen the federal government accused them of. She said the political class in Yenagoa had their differences with some members of their private armies and they used state machinery to chase these hoodlums away from the state capital. Some of them according to her ran into different communities before the death of the policemen came up. Her argument is that the police men could have been killed by members of any of the private armies set up by the political class for elections in Yenegoa which they (the political class later fell out with) and not mainly youths of Odi kingdom.

The ruins brought about by the military action are still visible in Odi kingdom. Though some few rich ones have managed to erect new structures on the rumbles left behind by the soldiers on their lands but many, particularly the retirees and fishermen that survived the shock are still battling to put their lives together. They live in makeshift structures and only point at the rumbles of their burnt buildings to show that they were once proud owners of block houses in the kingdom.They want justice, they want to be compensated. They want to know why the federal government should ignore their call for attention while it caters for those it labeled miscreants in the region, the same group it blamed for the military action in Odi kingdom.