30 years after, Nigeria still awaits justice for Ogoni nine – Global Rights
According to Ken, the nature of power is such that, those who have it, more often than not, are able to make their voices heard
Thirty years after the execution of environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni leaders, fresh calls have emerged for the Nigerian government to officially exonerate them and fully implement environmental cleanup efforts in the Niger Delta.
The executions of the Ogoni Nine—Ken Saro-Wiwa, Baribor Bera, Saturday Dobee, Nordu Eawo, Daniel Gbokoo, Paul Levura, Felix Nuate, John Kpuinen, and Barinem Kiobel—on November 10, 1995, remain one of the darkest chapters in Nigeria’s human rights history. Convicted by a military tribunal widely criticised as unfair and politically motivated, the nine were accused of inciting unrest in Ogoniland while leading peaceful protests against oil pollution by Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC)
In a statement by Global Rights, it noted that their execution, despite international appeals for clemency, drew global outrage from the United Nations, the Commonwealth, and rights groups. The executions led to Nigeria’s suspension from the Commonwealth and further isolated the then-military regime.
Three decades later, environmental and human rights organisations say justice is still elusive. The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), which Saro-Wiwa co-founded, continues to press for what it calls “total exoneration” rather than a government-issued “pardon,” insisting that the Ogoni Nine committed no crime.
“The idea of pardoning them is an insult to their memory,” said a civil society representative in Port Harcourt. “They were innocent men who died for demanding justice and environmental accountability.”
The 2011 United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report on Ogoniland revealed severe contamination, with benzene levels in drinking water 900 times above World Health Organisation limits. But progress on the cleanup has been painfully slow. Critics say the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP), created to oversee the cleanup, has been undermined by poor transparency, political interference, and underfunding.
Instead of focusing on remediation, activists warn that recent discussions about restarting oil exploration in Ogoniland could further endanger communities still suffering from toxic pollution.
Beyond Ogoniland, the statement marking the anniversary described Nigeria’s broader human rights climate as worrying. It noted that activists, journalists, and community leaders continue to face harassment, arbitrary arrests, and in some cases, extrajudicial killings—despite the country’s democratic governance.
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Human rights advocates are urging the government to formally exonerate the Ogoni Nine and acknowledge their wrongful convictions, fully implement UNEP’s cleanup recommendations with transparency and community involvement, hold polluters accountable, including multinational oil firms implicated in decades of environmental damage and protect the rights and safety of environmental and human rights defenders nationwide.
As Nigeria marks this somber anniversary, the legacy of Ken Saro-Wiwa and his colleagues continues to echo across generations. Their struggle, once met with violence, has become a rallying call for environmental justice and state accountability.
Quoting Saro-Wiwa’s final words before his execution, an activist at the memorial in Bori said: “We are going to demand our rights peacefully, non-violently, and we shall win.”
Thirty years on, many believe that Nigeria’s journey toward that victory—and true justice for the Ogoni Nine—is still far from complete.
