Pardon alone for Ogoni Nine 'not good enough'

Thirty years after the execution of Nigerian author and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and eights others sparked global outrage, they have been pardoned by President Bola Tinubu, a decision that has been partly welcomed, but also heavily criticised by family members and activists who are demanding a full exoneration or retrial. The posthumous pardons have also been linked to Nigeria's moves to possibly re-open the oil wells in Ogoniland, notes Legalbrief. Along with eight other campaigners, Saro-Wiwa was convicted of murder, then hanged in 1995 by the then-military regime, reports BBC News. Many believed the activists were being punished for leading protests against the operations of oil multinationals, particularly Shell, in Ogoniland. Shell has long denied any involvement in the executions. Though the pardons have been welcomed, some activists and relatives say they do not go far enough. As well as issuing the pardons on Thursday, Tinubu bestowed national honours on Saro-Wiwa and his fellow campaigners, who were known as the Ogoni Nine. The nine men – Saro-Wiwa, Barinem Kiobel, John Kpuinen, Baribor Bera, Felix Nuate, Paul Levula, Saturday Dobee, Nordu Eawo and Daniel Gbokoo – were among dozens who received the honours as part of Nigeria's annual Democracy Day. Tinubu said the accolades recognised ‘heroes’ who had made ‘outstanding contributions’ to the nation's democracy. Responding to the pardons for the Ogoni Nine, campaign groups said they would like the government to take further steps. The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (Mosop), which was formerly led by Saro-Wiwa, called the pardon a ‘courageous act’. However, Mosop also said that the pardon implies wrongdoing, while in reality ‘no crime ever took place’. Kiobel's widow expressed her gratitude to Tinubu for the national honour, but called on the President to 'properly declare (her) husband and his compatriots innocent' because a 'pardon is not granted to the innocent'. She said she wanted a retrial.

Amnesty International said clemency falls ‘far short of the justice the Ogoni Nine need’. More must be done to hold oil companies to account for environmental damage currently occurring in Nigeria, the organisation added. Saro-Wiwa, who was one of Nigeria's leading authors, led the Ogoni people in peaceful demonstrations against Shell and other oil companies. Mosop accused the multinational company of polluting the land that locals relied on for their livelihoods. The Nigerian Government responded by brutally cracking down on the protesters. The Ogoni Nine were subsequently found guilty by a secret military tribunal of the murder of four Ogoni chiefs. Their execution sparked outrage within the international community. It was widely condemned as extrajudicial murder and became a global symbol of the struggle against environmental injustice and repression. Nigeria was consequently suspended from the Commonwealth group of nations. Since then, Shell has faced various lawsuits over oil spills and environmental damage in the Niger Delta, the southern region that Ogoniland is a part of, according to BBC News. In 2021, a Dutch court ordered Shell to compensate farmers for spills that contaminated swathes of farmland and fishing waters in the Niger Delta. The company agreed to pay more than a hundred m i l l i o n dollars. Earlier this year, lawyers representing two Ogoniland communities argued in London's High Court that Shell must take responsibility for oil pollution that occurred between 1989 and 2020. Shell denies wrongdoing and says spills in the region have been caused by sabotage, theft and illegal refining for which the company says it is not liable. The case's full trial is set for 2026.

Full BBC News report

The family of Saro-Wiwa says Tinubu’s conferment of national honours on him and the eight other Ogoni leaders executed ‘symbolises the innocence of these heroes’, according to Premium Times Nigeria. ‘We want to believe that the conferment of these national honours symbolises the innocence of these heroes and further re-enforces the global view that the judgment given almost 30 years ago was flawed and their execution considered to be judicial murder,’ Saro-Wiwa’s family said in a statement signed by Noo Saro-Wiwa, a British-Nigerian author, and daughter of the late Saro-Wiwa. She said their father and the eight other Ogoni leaders ‘were innocent and peaceful activists who drew the attention of the world to the plight of the Ogoni people who suffered environmental devastation due to oil drilling by Shell’. 'While thanking President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for doing the right thing, we further request a review of the judicial proceedings leading to the erroneous judgment, which occasioned such a colossal loss to our family, the Ogoni people and concerned Nigerians. ‘Such a review will heal all wounds and… lead to a complete exoneration of our heroes,’ she added.

The reaction from Saro-Wiwa’s family to the national honours differs from that of the renowned environmentalist, Nnimmo Bassey, who told Premium Times Nigeria that Saro-Wiwa and the others deserve to be honoured. But coming at a time when the government is desperate to jack up oil production, while pollution continues unabated, the move is ill-timed’. Bassey, the director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation, re-stated his long-held view that the Nigerian Government must exonerate the Ogoni Nine of the crimes for which they were accused, instead of considering a pardon. ‘A mere pardon at this time appears to be aimed at reopening the oil wells in Ogoniland – a step that would mean dancing on the graves of the murdered leaders. Exoneration is the political action we demand of the government to bring a closure to the environmental genocide and other crimes committed against the Ogoni people,’ said Bassey. In 2021, Bassey and leaders of 10 other civil society organisations issued a statement rejecting a similar plan for state pardon Saro-Wiwa and others by the then-President Muhammadu Buhari. The Ken Saro-Wiwa Foundation had also rejected Buhari’s plan for pardon. ‘His death remains a matter that is yet to be resolved because the state necessarily has to exonerate him of the false charges and the kind of kangaroo judgment that was given by that tribunal. Besides, the state has to apologise to the victims and to the Ogoni people for executing them when the appeal period had not even elapsed,’Bassey said in a 2018 interview.

Full report in Premium Times Nigeria

Nigeria's Ogoni activists also rejected the posthumous pardon, criticising Tinubu's move as inadequate and perpetuating injustice, reports TRT Africa. ‘You cannot pardon someone that has not committed an offence; we are demanding total exoneration,’ said Celestine Akpobari, co-ordinator of the Ogoni Solidarity Forum. ‘To say “pardon”, I think it is insulting. If there is any group who needs pardon, it is the Nigerian Government that has committed so much crime against the Ogoni people,’ he told Reuters. Tinubu's spokesperson rejected such criticism. ‘The President has done what is normal. They can make an argument for exoneration and the President will look into it,’ Bayo Onanuga told Reuters. Tinubu's efforts to resume oil drilling in Ogoniland have drawn fresh criticism from environmental activists. Alagao Morris, deputy executive director of the Environmental Defenders Network, an interest group in the Niger Delta, said the pardon appeared to be an attempt to mollify the Ogoni people in the face of the region's continued environmental devastation. ‘The pollution that ought to be addressed has not been addressed,’ Morris said. He said the issue of oil drilling should be decided by the Ogoni people, but the complete exoneration of Saro-Wiwa and other executed activists should come first. Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, relies on oil for more than 90% of export earnings and around two-thirds of government earnings, exposing its economy to global price shocks.

Full TRT Afrika report