Timaya, a Nigerian recording artiste has recounted the Odi massacre ordeal that happened in Bayelsa in 1999.
He stated that the Nigerian Army carried out the attack against the predominantly Ijaw town on the order of the government.
The singer explained that the massacre was also a personal ordeal, stressing that his mother owned a bakery in the town of Odi.
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According to him, the military operation resulted in the loss of lives and property.
Timaya said he was conferred with the title of Egberi Papa 1 of Bayelsa after he sang about the Odi massacre in his hit song, ‘Dem Mama’, in 2007.
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He said, “It [Odi] was part of me, too, because my mum had a bakery in the village and was supplying the whole village… It was the village that was attacked.
“It’s very touching because we lost lives, a lot of things, and history. You know, when the government just says, ‘go and shoot these people down’.
“I sang about it [the massacre]. That is the most I can do. In fact, I told the story, how they sent the military to burn down the village. I narrated my story, and it helped me to make an impact. I became the voice, which they gave me the title of the Egberi Papa 1 of Bayelsa State. That is the mouthpiece of the people.”
Equally, 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 came in the context of an ongoing conflict in the Niger Delta over indigenous rights to oil resources and environmental protection.
