I Sang about the Massacre: I became the Voice - Timaya 

Nigerian singer and songwriter Inetimi Alfred Odon popularly known by his stage name Timaya, has shared more light on his ordeal on the 1999 massacre in his home town Odi in the oil rich Bayelsa State.

The singer said that the attack was carried out by the Nigerian Army against the predominantly Ijaw town on the order of the government.

Narrating his experience, Timaya described the massacre as an unforgettable personal ordeal, stressing that his mother owned a bakery in the town of Odi.

He highlighted that the military operation resulted in the loss of lives and properties in the community.

Timaya said that the title of Egberi Papa 1 of Bayelsa was conferred on him after he sang about the Odi massacre in his hit Album, ‘Dem Mama’ in 2007.

He said, “Odi was part of me, too, because my mum had a bakery in the village and was supplying the whole villages. It was the village that was attacked.

“It’s very touching because we lost lives, a lot of things and history. You know when the government just says ‘go and shoot these people down’.

“I sang about the massacre. That is the most I can do. I told the story, how they sent the military to burn down the village. I narrated my story and it helped me to get an impact. I became the voice, which they gave me the title of the Egberi Papa 1 of Bayelsa State. That is the mouthpiece of the people.\"