Dauda Musa Komo

Who is Dauda Musa Komo?

Lt. Colonel Dauda Musa Komo was Administrator of Rivers State, Nigeria from December 1993 to August 1996 during the military regime of General Sani Abacha. He took office at a time of escalating violence between the Ogoni and Okrika people over crowded waterfront land, combined with Ogoni protest against Shell Oil activities and the environmental destruction of Ogoni land. He reacted aggressively, sending troops to break up demonstrations and arresting leaders of the Ogoni's MOSOP movement.

In January 1994 Shell and other oil companies said they had lost $200 million in 1993 due to unrest in the Delta area, and called for urgent measures. Komo formed the Rivers State Internal Security Task Force from army, navy, airforce, mobile police and state security personnel, headed by Major Paul Okutimo. The force acted brutally, destroying many Ogoni villages, killing or beating the people. A letter that Okuntimo wrote to Komo in May 1994 said "Shell operations still impossible unless ruthless military operations are undertaken". At a press conference on 2 August 1994, Komo and Okuntimo justified the use of terror to force the Ogoni into submission.

On 21 May 1994, four prominent Ogoni leaders were brutally murdered at a meeting of the Gokana Council of Chiefs and Elders. The next day author and MOSOP leader Ken Saro-Wiwa and others were arrested on charges of involvement in the murders. Komo proclaimed in advance that Saro-Wiwa was "guilty of murder". On 31 October 1995 a tribunal announced death sentences for Saro-Wiwa and eight other activists. All nine were executed on November 10, 1995.