Menu

The Right Livelihood Foundation, a charity registered in Sweden, said on Tuesday it has sent a petition to President Muhammadu Buhari demanding the exoneration of Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa and eight others who were hanged during the military regime of General Sani Abacha.

Saro-Wiwa and the eight others, collectively known as the Ogoni Nine, were accused of inciting the deaths of four chiefs in Ogoniland, Rivers State, in 1994. Following a guilty verdict passed by a military tribunal, they were executed by hanging on November 10, 1995.

Saro-Wiwa was a writer and activist who led protests against environmental degradation in Ogoniland caused by decades of oil spills from the operations of Royal Dutch Shell and other oil companies. Over two million barrels of oil reportedly polluted the soil and water across communities in Ogoniland between 1976 and 1991.

27 Right Livelihood Laureates signed the petition to Buhari on the 25th anniversary of the execution of the Ogoni Nine, demanding that the deceased activist and the eight others should be posthumously cleared of all charges. The eight Ogoni leaders who were also hanged in 1995 were: Saturday Dobee, Nordu Eawo, Daniel Gbooko, Paul Levera, Felix Nuate, Baribor Bera, Barinem Kiobel and John Kpuine.

The laureates who signed the petition to Buhari include Nnimmo Bassey, a Nigerian and 2010 Right Livelihood Laureate; Daniel Ellsberg, a 2006 laureate from the United States; Vandana Shiva, a 1993 laureate from India; and Bianca Jagger, a 2004 laureate from Nicaragua, among many others. The late Saro-Wiwa himself was a 1994 Right Livelihood Laureate.

"Posthumously exonerate Ken Saro-Wiwa and the other Ogoni leaders of a crime they did not commit and provide their families with adequate, effective and prompt reparations," the laureates wrote in the petition to President Buhari. "Justice for Ken Saro-Wiwa and the eight others would be a sign that you are committed to bringing justice for the environment, not just in Ogoniland, but everywhere."

The petition acknowledges the Nigerian government's ongoing efforts to clean up the Niger Delta oil spill as recommended by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in its 2011 report. The UNEP report shows the severe impact of extensive oil pollution on public health and livelihoods of people in Ogoniland. It said cleaning up the pollution and restoration of Ogoniland would cost about $1 billion and take up to 30 years. The Right Livelihood Laureates said the UNEP report validated the claims of the late Saro-Wiwa and others that the situation must be remedied.

"This petition demands that the President of Nigeria does the minimum by taking the first step of exonerating Ken Saro-Wiwa and the other eight Ogoni leaders,” said Bassey in a statement sent to Financial Nigeria today by the Swedish charity organisation.

Following the arrest of Saro-Wiwa, Amnesty International issued a statement declaring him a “prisoner of conscience." The Ogoni Nine execution – referred to as judicial murders by then-United Kingdom Prime Minister John Major and others – resulted in the suspension of Nigeria from the Commonwealth of Nations for a period of over three years.

“Nothing can erase the tragedy of executing Ken Saro-Wiwa and the fellow Ogoni leaders. However, exonerating the Ogoni Nine is a necessary step the Nigerian government must take to begin taking responsibility for the destruction of lives and the environment in the Niger Delta. The government must also make sure that polluted sites are cleaned up, and people are protected from the perilous impacts of oil extraction.”

“On November 10, 1995, Ken Saro-Wiwa was illegally executed by the Nigerian state for daring to demand environmental and minority rights justice for his Ogoni people,” said Ole von Uexkull, Executive Director of the Right Livelihood Foundation. “Twenty-five years after this despicable event, which received widespread condemnation at the time, the Ogoni people are yet to receive justice, which could bring closure to this tragedy. This petition demands that the President of Nigeria does the minimum by taking the first step of exonerating Ken Saro-Wiwa and the other eight Ogoni leaders.”