Ogoni Nine Pardoned For Uncommited Crime 30 Years On

The Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), under the leadership of Fegalo Nsuke, has commended President Bola Tinubu for granting a posthumous presidential pardon to the nine Ogoni rights activists executed in 1995 by the military regime of General Sani Abacha.

Those pardoned include Ken Saro-Wiwa, Nubari Kiobel, Nordu Eawo, Saturday Doobee, John Kpuinen, Paul Levura, Daniel Gbokoo, Felix Nuate, and Baribor Bera. Nsuke described the gesture as a “historic and courageous act of national reckoning” and a crucial step toward healing the wounds inflicted on both the Ogoni people and the nation.

He further praised Tinubu for showing boldness and compassion in addressing a long-standing demand for justice, saying, “The President’s acknowledgment of the grave injustice done to the Ogoni Nine, especially the statement that their execution should never have happened, has been met with gratitude both within Nigeria and around the world.” However, Nsuke argued that while the pardon is important, it implies forgiveness of a crime that was never committed.

He urged the president to go further by establishing a Judicial Commission of Inquiry, stating, “Such an exoneration would be a stronger moral and legal correction, ensuring that their names are no longer burdened by the stain of injustice.”

Who Were The Ogoni Nine?

The Ogoni Nine were a group of nine activists from the Ogoni region of Nigeria who opposed the operating practices of the Royal Dutch Shell oil corporation in the Niger Delta.

Led by social activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, the group also included Saturday Dobee, Nordu Eawo, Daniel Gbooko, Paul Levera, Felix Nuate, Baribor Bera, Barinem Kiobel, and John Kpuine. Saro-Wiwa was the founder of Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) a movement representing over 700,000 Ogoni people campaigning for social, economic, and environmental justice through peaceful protest.

Ken Saro-Wiwa had previously been a critic of the Royal Dutch Shell oil corporation, and had been imprisoned for a year.

In 1995, under the military regime of General Sani Abacha, the Ogoni Nine were tried and executed by hanging on the 10th of November 1995 accused without presenting any evidence of inciting the murder of four Ogoni chiefs. They were buried in Port Harcourt Cemetery.

According to Amnesty International, “in May of 1994, the Ogoni chiefs Albert Badey, Edward Kobani, Samuel Orage and Theophilus Orage, were killed in Gokana. R. Boele, known to be opponents of MOSOP.

The executions provoked international condemnation and led to the increasing treatment of Nigeria as a pariah state until General Abacha’s mysterious death in 1998.

Ogoni Nine And What They Fought For?

The Ogoni Nine, through MOSOP, were engaged in a nonviolent struggle against environmental destruction, economic marginalization, and social injustice caused by oil exploration in their homeland.

Ogoniland had suffered extensive environmental degradation, primarily due to oil spills, These oil spills made the land uninhabitable in some areas, and unable to be farmed, a common livelihood of the Ogoni people and polluted the air and water crippling agriculture and fishing, the backbone of the Ogoni economy.

By 1992, MOSOP’s activism became sharply focused on the operations of oil companies in the Niger Delta, particularly Royal Dutch Shell. In early 1993, the movement intensified its international engagement, including appeals to the United Nations.

On January 4, 1993, over 300,000 Ogoni people marched peacefully in protest against oil production in their region. During that demonstration now commemorated annually as Ogoni Day, one Ogoni leader said, “We have woken up to find our lands devastated by agents of death called oil companies. Our atmosphere has been totally polluted, our lands degraded, our waters contaminated, our trees poisoned, so much so that our flora and fauna have virtually disappeared.”

The years that followed were marked by increased violence, particularly between 1993 and 1994. The Nigerian military was frequently deployed to suppress the movement, often resulting in brutal crackdowns.

In May 1994, four Ogoni chiefs were murdered, and the government swiftly blamed MOSOP, arresting dozens of its members including the Ogoni Nine despite lack of credible evidence.
Later in 1994, Shell reportedly sought military assistance to secure a pipeline route through Ogoniland. Amid this, violence escalated dramatically, and it is estimated that as many as 2,000 people lost their lives during that period.

The continued resistance by MOSOP, led by Ken Saro-Wiwa, challenged both multinational corporations and the military dictatorship, drawing global attention to the plight of the Ogoni people and the human rights abuses in the Niger Delta.

What Has The Government Done Towards Ogoni Land’s Liberation

The Nigerian government has taken some steps toward addressing the environmental and social issues in Ogoniland. Various agencies, including the Federal Ministry of Environment, have engaged in cleanup efforts in collaboration with international partners.

In 2011, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) released a comprehensive report detailing the extensive contamination in Ogoniland, calling for urgent remediation.
Since then, initiatives aimed at environmental restoration and community rehabilitation have been launched, though progress has been slow and often criticized as inadequate by activists and local communities. The recent presidential pardon and calls for exoneration of the Ogoni Nine signal a renewed commitment at the federal level to acknowledge past injustices and promote reconciliation.

MOSOP and other civil society groups continue to urge the government to implement comprehensive cleanup and development programs that respect the rights and livelihoods of the Ogoni people, ensuring that environmental justice becomes a lasting reality.

The Current State Of Ogoni Land

Since the execution of the Ogoni Nine and throughout the early 2000s, Nigeria has witnessed numerous oil spills and extraction-related fires affecting many areas. While no further drilling has occurred in Ogoniland since 1993, the land remains severely damaged.

Underground pipelines continue to leak, worsening the environmental degradation.
Shell has yet to conduct comprehensive cleanup efforts, though it paid £55 million in reparations in 2014 for two oil spills that happened in 2008.

Although gas flaring and acid rain across Ogoniland have reduced, pollution still severely impacts the vegetation and the land. Ogoni Day continues to be commemorated each year on January 4, with the 30th anniversary celebrated in 2023, as a reminder of the ongoing struggle for justice and environmental restoration.