John Togo, what he stands for before he was ganged up and killed in 2011
By: Oyinbi Onduku
Late leader John Epoko (Togo) popularlly known as the Oyimi 1 of Niger Delta was a Nigerian and renowned freedom fighter from the Izon community in Ogodobiri and Ayakoromo, Delta State. He was a key figure in the Niger Delta liberation struggle for resource control, fighting for justice, fairness and the rights of his people and the control of natural resources in the region.
His parents are Christians from the Roman Catholic Church. The father was a cathchist, a peasant farmer and fisherman.
John Togo was a SSCE holder, he speaks ljaw, Urhobo, Hausa and bidgin English fluently. He was very social, hospitable and friendly in nature but very brutal when it comes to harms struggle. He was a cheerful giver and a great philanthropist to the core.
His early life with his parents in the village was farming, fishing and hunting. He acquired his arms skill through hunting wild animals in the forest. He undergo series of arrest, detaintion in prison by the Nigerian government, and later released and engaged by the same government for assignment.
John Togo was the leader of the Niger Delta Liberation Force (NDLF), an agitation group that emerged in the early 2000. He was known for his bravery and strategic thinking, and his group was involved in several high-profile attacks on oil installations and government forces.
Togo's fight was not only about resource control but also about the economic and political marginalization of the Niger Delta region. He believed that the wealth generated from the region's natural resources should benefit the local communities, rather than being exploited by the government and foreign multinational oil companies.
John Togo's legacy is complex and controversial, with some viewing him as a hero while others as a criminal. Nevertheless, his impact on the Niger Delta conflict and the struggle for resource control cannot be undermined.
He was a selfless freedom fighter, a true Hero. Even when people don't see him as a freedom fighter, he keeps fighting and defending the ijaw nation. A true freedom fighter is known by selfless sacrifice, fairness and care for his people. John Togo care and fought for his people.
Before his passing, he was first engaged by the Nigerian government in 2004 to pursue the camerounians occupying Nigeria land at the Bakasi Peninsula.
It took John Togo and his boys two weeks to perfect the assignment, an operation the Nigerian military cannot carried out for a long time.
Secondly, he was the man who also stormed the Atlant Cove Jetty in Lagos in the year 2008, where the Nigerian government and political thieves used as a loading point as well as mini refinery to siphon the Niger Delta peoples crude oil for themselves.
He was also instrumental in the ethnic crisis between the ljaws and ltsekiris erupted in 1996/1999 as result of the relocation of the headquarters of warri South-West Local Government Council from Ogbe-ljoh to Ogidigben. It took the grace and wisdom of God by the federal and state government as well as critical stakeholders from the region to resolve the crisis.
His last agitation with the Nigerian government in 2010 before his death after accepting Amnesty by laying down his arms was the outright deviation of the federal government for not implementing the agreements reached at Abuja before dropping arms for peace in 2009.
Some of the agreements were to develop the Niger Delta region with road networks, building bridges to connect the riverine communities to urban city's, fair share of oil wealths (blocs) among the Niger Delta people, creation of additional state for ljaw people in the Niger Delta region, establishment of universities, provision of quality healthcare facilities (hospitals/clinics), pipe borne waters, provision of job opportunities for the youths of Niger Delta, building of housing estates for the Niger Delta agitators and call for Post Amnesty Conference so as to address the issues raised.
Unfortunately, the Nigerian government remains silent on the key areas they agreed for rather than paying the monthly stipends of 65k which he said is nothing to go home about.
The above reason provoked John Togo, hence he remobilized his boys back to the creek where he confronted the Nigerian troop's in a fierced gun battle that claimed many innocent lives both on the side of government and Ayakoromo community where he erected his camps.
John Togo was overpowered by the fierced Nigerian government aeriel (air), land and water bombardment. He sustained a serious cut on his legs as result of the air missiles detonated by the Nigerian military assisted by his own fellow ljaw brothers in the struggle.
Having sustained the injury, he was moved from the Obubu creek to Ogriagbene community by his boys for treatment. Then the Nigerian government was after him to catch him alive or death.
The federal government got the intelligence report that he was in Bomadi Local Government receiving medical attention, hence they moved their search light to the location for his arrest.
Before then, the medical doctor attending to John Togo said he cannot get back to his fits and that the only option for him to survive is to amputate his two legs.
At this junction, John Togo decided to take his life by himself to die as hero rather than to be humiliated by the Nigerian government.
On 13th May, 2011, he ordered his boys to move him to his community Ogodobiri where he was taken to the forest for his last prayers where he subsequently shot himself to death.
The information of his death and secret burial got to the Nigerian government which move them to Ogodobiri where they accosted some of his boys to the graveside to exhumed his lifeless body for autopsy to be sure if truly he was the one.
The body was moved to the Central Hospital Morgue, Warri for the autopsy and people who knows him to identify the body before the Nigerian military to take further action.
Having identified him, federal government kept the body for some years before the remains were later released for the family for burial.
Before his death, John Togo was married with children (daughters) and survived by many relatives.
