MPM 732: Critical Thinking Reflection on ODI Massacre, Nigeria

This report presents a critical reflection on the ODI Massacre, focusing on the Nigerian military's actions in the Bayelsa state in 1999 under General Olusegun Obasanjo. It highlights the conflict's origins in oil resource rights and environmental protection, examining the military's violent response to the killing of police officers and the subsequent impact on civilians. The reflection condemns the disproportionate use of force, the extensive damage to infrastructure, and the alleged cover-up of casualties. It also explores the broader implications of the event, including its connection to the Niger Delta region's oil resources and the environmental concerns raised by the United Nations. The report concludes by criticizing the human rights violations and calling for accountability, emphasizing the need to condemn such acts of violence and inhumanity. Desklib offers a platform to explore similar assignments and study resources.

Running head: CRITICAL THINKING FOR MANAGERS
Critical Thinking for Managers
Name of thee Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Critical reflection
ODI Massacre
Good morning everyone and let us begin the session with the most significant issue of the
wiping away of the ODI land by the Military Government General Olusegun Obasanjo at the
Bayelsa state of Nigeria. The impact of this ODI massacre has been widespread. The incident
took place in the year 1999 on the 20th of November. The operation was carried out by the
Nigerian military forces (Ekine 2013). The military general of the Nigerian military forces was
Olusegun Obasanjo. The attack was believed to be caused because of the rights for the oil
resources and environmental protection. These things were very much significant for the country
like Nigeria (Peterside 2014).
I must gein my reflection by saying that around twelve members of the Nigerian police
force were murdered by an unknown gang near Odi. The military forces became very much
violent in this context and they had decided to enter the village and kill the gang members by
identifying them properly. However, the news came up that the military forces, too, were badly
attacked near the entrance of the village (Peterside 2014) This is where the tensions began to rise
high. I should say that the initiative was good but the violence that had been caused by the
Nigerian army could not be supported. In order to identify the gang members, the Nigerian army
had killed around 20 to 30 common unarmed civilians (Ekine 2013). This action of the army
cannot be supported by me. However, the Executive Director of the Environmental Rights
Action had demanded that around 2500 common civilians were being killed.
I must highlight on the fact that the military invasion in the Bayelsa state of Nigeria
cannot be supported at all since the lives of many civilians were at deep stake. The military

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general Olusegun Obasanjo did not adhere to his own ultimatum of the fourteen days since he
had ordered his troops to surround the local communities of the Bayelsa state. As we know
Olusegun Obasanjo wanted to declare the Bayelsa area in a state of emergency since the
miscreants had not been arrested at all (Austine and Sunday 2013). The major military operations
in the area consisted of the heavy artillery, grenade launchers, aircrafts, mortars and the various
other updated weapons. These attacks had been so much brutal that I cannot but condemn it. The
situation was so immense that most of the inhabitants were being arrested and killed. However,
some old men, women and some children could be seen in those areas indeed (Okumagba 2012).
This is the reason I must say that the deed Olusegun Obasanjo committed should be highly
criticized in the negative angle.
The so much heavy assault on the commoners in order to catch some of the hoodlums
cannot be accepted at all. I must say that the biggest purpose was to capture the oil resources of
the region. The oil resources of the Niger Delta region are believed to be the main purpose of the
attacks by the military general Olusegun Obasanjo. As argued by the various authors, I can say
the military forces intended to make the money out of the situations indeed. The oil industry of
Nigeria has provided to the economic growth of the country and it has also produced the
employment opportunities widely as well (Ibekwe 2013). However, many critics have opined
that the killing of the policemen could only be seen as the excuse that the military forces could
give for their relentless attacks on the common civilians (Ibekwe 2013). Some experts have also
said that the Niger Delta region was very much under the threat and people were not at all happy
with the situation as well. This had led the situation to be much intense (Okumagba 2012). The
infrastructure of the Niger Delta had been completely deteriorated indeed. As per the experts I
must also say the environmental matters could also come into the play as well.

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The United Nations had also been very much worried about this situation as well. I must
mention that it feels pain within me to assume the fact of how painful it had been for the
common people (Ibekwe 2013). The military forces led by Olusegun Obasanjo almost wiped of
the Niger Delta area and the Ijaw community that lived in the region. As per the authors it must
be said that this mayhem had been caused in the region was due to the greed of Olusegun
Obasanjo to get the hold over the oil resources within the region (Peterside 2014). The area
named Black Market in Yenagoa had been completely destroyed and this was the very beginning
of the things yet to come. The common people were being tied to the trees in the jungles. The
corpses were to be seen decomposed by the lakes, road and other regions (Ugochukwu 2013).
As the result of this mayhem around 2500 people were said to be dead and the people
were very much frightened as well. However, the death toll according to the Nigerian
Government was just 43. This is very alarming as the Nigerian Government tried to hide the
actual number of causalities. I feel very bad about the fact that the yam barns were badly burnt
and this was just because of the getting the proper control over the oil mines and resources
within the Niger delta region (Ugochukwu 2013). Some of the authors have argued over the fact
that this was the incident with the highest magnitude that the region had suffered indeed. This
was even greater than the genocide in the Ogoniland massacre. The court trial was impending
and the researchers on this matter found out the various inscriptions like the ‘Come to Odi and
learn a lesson’, ‘Government has given us power to kill’ and ‘We go kill all the Ijaw people with
our guns’. I feel that these incidents are utter disgrace for the face of humanity and this should be
condemned properly as well.

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References
Agina, A., 2013. The Niger Delta in Nigerian Video Films. Critical African Studies, 5(2), pp.79-
91.
Austine, E. and Sunday, E.C., 2013. Niger Delta: A critical appraisal of the amnesty programme
and social political development in Nigeria. Research on Humanities and Social Sciences, 3(22),
pp.130-137.
Ekine, S., 2013. Odi massacre and origins of militancy in Ijawland. Norwegian Council for
Africa.
Ibekwe, N., 2013. Odi Massacre: Court orders Nigerian Government to pay N37bn damages to
residents, Premium Times.
Odorige, F.O., 2017. Introduction to the Approaches of Just Wars and Bad Peace.
Okumagba, P.O., 2012. Militancy and Human Rights Violation in the Niger Delta. International
Review of Social Science and Humanities, 3(2), pp.28-37.
Peterside, Z.B., 2014. The military and internal security in Nigeria: Challenges and
prospects. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 5(27 P3), p.1301.
Ugochukwu, N., 2013. „How soldiers killed 2,483 persons in Odi massacre‟. National Daily
Newspaper. Culled from http://old. nationaldailyng. com/news/politics/7010-how-soldiers-killed-
2483-persons-in-odi-massacre.