Odi massacre

Before the massacre, twelve members of the Nigerian police were murdered by a gang near Odi, seven on 4 November and the remainder in the following days. In retaliation, the military decided to invade the village. There are reports that the army was ambushed close to the village thus tensions soared; they broke through the ambush and exchanged fire with armed militias in the village who were believed to be using the civilian population as cover. This and the "ambush" provocation led to the attack on the civilian population and the town's buildings. Every building in the town except the bank, the Anglican church and the health centre was burnt to the ground. All of this happened in president Olusegun Obasanjo's presidency. ==Death toll==

A wide range of estimates has been given for the numbers of civilians killed. Human Rights Watch concluded that "the soldiers must certainly have killed tens of unarmed civilians and that figures of several hundred dead are entirely possible." The government initially put the death toll at 43, including eight soldiers. ==Court case==

In February 2013, the Federal High Court ordered the Federal Government to pay N37.6 billion compensation to the people of Odi community in kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area of Bayelsa state. Justice ordered that the compensation should be paid within three weeks. The case led to the payment of N15 billion from the Goodluck Jonathan-led administration as an out-of-court settlement. According to Prof. Kobina Imananagha (Chairman of the Odi Destruction Case Prosecution Committee (ODCPC)), “The London court issued threats that it was going to enforce the full judgement of the court (payment of N37.6billion) if by October 21, 2014, government fails to negotiate settlement and pay agreed compensation to Odi. This seeming that compelled the Federal Ministry of Justice and the leadership of the legal team, ODCPC and the king of Odi to the negotiation table on May 26, 2014 where N15billion (as the only payment) offer as compensation to Odi was made by the Federal Government." The government later paid the sum of N15 billion which led to further conflict in the community and the subsequent kidnap of the committee Chairman Prof. Zibokere who was later released. ==References in popular culture==

The Odi massacre inspired a song titled "Dem Mama" on Timaya's True Story album. It was also the muse for the poem "Potpourri of Perdition" by Success Akpojotor, published on Poets Reading The News. The massacre further inspired the poem "Did Odi do the Deed?", written by Ibiwari Ikiriko. ==See also==