Amnesty International has urged President Bola Tinubu to go beyond a posthumous pardon and formally declare the late environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight of his fellow campaigners innocent of all charges leveled against them by the military regime of General Sani Abacha.
Saro-Wiwa, a renowned author and the leader of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), was executed along with eight others—Barinem Kiobel, John Kpuinen, Baribor Bera, Felix Nuate, Paul Levula, Saturday Dobee, Nordu Eawo, and Daniel Gbokoo—on November 10, 1995.
President Tinubu had, during his Democracy Day address on June 12, announced a posthumous pardon for the group, widely known as the Ogoni Nine. While acknowledging the gesture, Amnesty International described it as inadequate and called for a full exoneration.
“This is welcome news, but it falls far short of the justice the Ogoni Nine need and deserve,” said Isa Sanusi, Director of Amnesty International Nigeria, in a statement released on Friday. “The Nigerian government must formally recognise that they were innocent and fully exonerate them.”
Sanusi emphasized that the executions were a deliberate effort by the Abacha regime to stifle environmental justice campaigns and shield multinational oil companies from accountability for environmental degradation in the Niger Delta.
“The Ogoni Nine were brutally executed by a regime that wanted to silence their protest against the destruction of their land by Shell and other oil companies. These corporations have devastated the lives and livelihoods of tens of thousands in the Niger Delta,” he said.
The human rights organisation stressed that justice for the Ogoni Nine must be accompanied by broader action, including environmental remediation and holding oil companies accountable.
“True justice goes beyond a pardon,” Sanusi added. “It means compensation, clean-up, and prosecution where necessary. Communities in the Niger Delta have suffered for decades—this is the time to act.”
Amnesty International further called on oil companies, particularly Shell, to pay full compensation and take responsibility for the environmental havoc caused by years of oil spills and gas flaring in the region.
President Tinubu’s administration has not yet responded to the renewed calls for a formal exoneration or additional remedial action in the Niger Delta.
