ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS ACTION (ERA)
214 Uselu-Lagos Road, P.O. Box 10577, Benin City, Nigeria
tel/fax + 234 52 600 165 e-mail: [email protected]

Date: December 1999

Testimony of Fidiowei Asamaower
(testimony taken at Yenagoa where he is taking refuge)

"When they started shelling our town, we all ran. We ran into the bush, stayed inside the swamp because right now, it is flood season so the bush is not dry so all of us were soaked in the river. Some of us climbed on top of trees so that they can get their clothes dry in the sun.

"There is no food to eat, so we have to eat these little bush fruits. There is some type of fruit we normally eat or lick when we go into the bush to go and farm. So we were feeding on those things for three days.

"At a time we did not hear any gun shot again so we felt maybe the soldiers must have gone out. When we came very close to the town we saw smoke in the town. The bush is our bush so we know some few short cuts that we can come around and then peep. So when we peep we can see that they are destroying all the buildings except some few thatched houses that are not important All the storey buildings, even my father's house and a lot of other things, have been burnt. You can only see ashes in Odi now.

"After staying in the bush for three days we felt there was no way to escape. What do we do? We don't have boat we don't have anything. So we felt we should push down some few plantain stems and then stick."