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ERA RENEWS DEMAND FOR JUSTICE TO ODI FOUR years after the invasion and destruction of Odi, Bayelsa State by Nigerian soldiers, the environmental pressure group Environmental Rights Action/ Friends of the Earth, Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has reiterated its demand for justice. In a memorial statement issued in Benin, Lagos and Port Harcourt, ERA said the murder of 2,483 Nigerians, comprising 1,023 females and 1,460 males amounts to genocide and cannot be wished away just like that."The Odi invasion was a violation of sections of the Nigerian 1999 Constitution. It is an abuse of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). It is inconsistent with Article 5 of the United Nations Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officers. It is genocide", says ERA Executive Director Nnimmo Bassey.
"When President Olusegun Obasanjo visited Odi in March 2001, he admitted
that the soldiers who perpetrated the grave human rights atrocities in Odi
went 'beyond their brief'. Being the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces
of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Obasanjo must take final responsibility
for the Odi action. That is why we expect him to have the courage to
apologise to the community, order compensation to Odi and set a process in
motion to bring to book all those directly responsible for the Odi genocide."
ERA faulted official claims that the invading soldiers were in Odi to arrest
a band of lawless elements accused of killing law enforcement officers.
"The world now knows that the killing of the policemen was never the
reason
for the onslaught on Odi. It was just an excuse by the government of General
Obasanjo in collaboration with Shell and the other oil companies to
summarily resolve the Niger Delta question", it said.
Dec 2003 |