Recounting the attack, he lamented that the military operation resulted in the loss of lives and property.

The singer explained that the massacre was also a personal ordeal, stressing that his mother owned a bakery in the town of Odi.

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

He said, “It [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 it [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.”