Bayelsa Lawmaker Congratulates Odioama Kingdom On N20b Judgment, Urges FG To Comply

The lawmaker representing Brass Constituency II in the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Hon. Timi Agala-Omubo PhD, has congratulated the people of Odioama Kingdom in Brass Local Government Area over their victory at the Bayelsa State High Court.

The Bayelsa State High Court, in a landmark judgment delivered on Monday, awarded N20 billion in general damages against the federal government over the 19th February 2005 military invasion of the community.

Mangrovepen recalls that houses were burnt, scores of lives were lost and many residents displaced following the invasion.

At the time, the military defended the invasion, saying it was carried out to curb cultism and armed militancy, alleging that cultists had been acting as armed escorts to illegal oil bunkerers and pipeline vandals in the area.

Reacting to the judgment via a statement on Wednesday, Agala-Omubo said the court had given the people of the community, which is part of his constituency, succour and relief from the ordeal of loss of lives and destruction of property.

In the words of the lawmaker: “As a representative of the Odioama kingdom, and one who had a part of his elementary education life in the kingdom, I had always shared in the agony of the horror of the entire community being razed by men in uniform otherwise meant to protect the people.

“I salute the courage and resilience of the Odioma people for rebuilding the community through self-help.”

He noted that while compensation may not bring back the dead or recover all properties lost, it will serve as a caution against recklessness by uniformed personnel.

He therefore called on the federal government to obey and implement the judgment without hesitation.

He said immediate payment would help the community to heal and close what he described as the “ugly and elongated chapter of her history.”

Agala-Omubo equally appreciated all those who sacrificed time and resources to pursue accountability from the federal government over the incident.