Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has been criticized by some leaders in Odi community of Bayelsa state over his comments on the shooting incident in Lekki.
The leaders, under the aegis of Concerned Citizens of Odi, issued a statement recalling how a massacre was carried out on November 20, 1999, by the Nigerian military on the predominantly Ijaw town of Odi in Bayelsa state under the administration of Olusegun Obasanjo.
According to the leaders, Obasanjo was not qualified to comment on the recent massacre at Lekki toll gate in Lagos as he ordered a similar action on residents of Odi agitating for indigenous rights to oil resources and environmental protection.
A copy of the statement signed by several Odi leaders including the community’s women leader; Ebimoweni Kemepade, deputy king of Odi; Chief Prenus Ogboin, the Youth president Ikposuoyeski Inemike and CDC chairman, Odi, Goddey Niweigha, among others, was obtained by the Heritage Times
It demanded an unreserved apology from the former president, stressing that his recent comments on the Lekki Massacre were tantamount to adding salt to injury on their people.
Part of the statement read: “The trauma that Odi went through under President Obasanjo is still fresh in living memory.
“The Nigerian Army moved in tanks, the Nigerian Navy moved in warships and the Nigerian Air Force was overheads.
“All the force of the Nigerian federation was unleashed on the sleepy and unarmed rural community of Odi. All because some young people dared to ask for their rights. It was a time no one in Odi wishes to recall.
“Definitely, there are some lectures that ‘Professor’ Obasanjo may not be qualified to deliver, especially a lecture on how to disperse a peaceful protest without violence.’’
