"Mr. President... has either forgotten the relevant facts or he has been misinformed. Whichever way he is mistaken and it is important for those of us that proudly served the Obasanjo administration to respond to him in order to clarify the issues, clear the air and set the record straight for the sake of history and posterity.
“I had the privilege of being briefed about all the facts by President Olusegun Obasanjo himself and Col. Kayode Are, the former Director-General, DG of the State Security Service, SSS, immediately after the Presidential Media Chat and I believe that it is appropriate to share some of those facts with members of the Nigerian public given the grave assertion and serious charge that President Jonathan has made.
Those facts are as follows:
“Five policemen and four soldiers were killed by a group of Niger Delta militants when they tried to enter the town of Odi in Bayelsa State in order to effect their arrest.
"This happened in 1999. After the brutal killing of the security personnel, President Olusegun Obasanjo asked the then governor of Bayelsa State, Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, to identify, locate, apprehend and hand over the perpetrators of that crime.
“The governor said that he was unable to do so and President Obasanjo, as the Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces, took the position that security personnel could not be killed with impunity under his watch without a strong and appropriate response from the Federal Government.
“Consequently, he sent the military in to uproot and kill the terrorists and to destroy their operational base which was the town of Odi. “The operation was carried out with military precision and efficiency and its objectives were fully achieved. The terrorists were either killed and those that were not killed fled their operational base in Odi, were uprooted, were weakened, were demoralised and were completely dispersed.
That was the purpose of the whole exercise and that purpose was achieved.
"This happened in 1999. After the brutal killing of the security personnel, President Olusegun Obasanjo asked the then governor of Bayelsa State, Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, to identify, locate, apprehend and hand over the perpetrators of that crime.
“The governor said that he was unable to do so and President Obasanjo, as the Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces, took the position that security personnel could not be killed with impunity under his watch without a strong and appropriate response from the Federal Government.
“Consequently, he sent the military in to uproot and kill the terrorists and to destroy their operational base which was the town of Odi. “The operation was carried out with military precision and efficiency and its objectives were fully achieved. The terrorists were either killed and those that were not killed fled their operational base in Odi, were uprooted, were weakened, were demoralised and were completely dispersed.
That was the purpose of the whole exercise and that purpose was achieved.
“The truth is that the killing of security agents and soldiers with impunity by the Niger Delta militants virtually stopped after the operation in Odi and remained at a bare minimum right up until the time that President Obasanjo left power eight years later in 2007. I advise those that doubt this to go and check the records.”
- The statement was issued by former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode in reaction to the claim by President Goodluck Jonathan that the action taken by the Obasanjo-led federal government did not solve any problem in the area.
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