Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu has posthumously pardoned nine environmental activists, known as the “Ogoni Nine,” executed 30 years ago by a military junta, a move drawing sharp criticism from activists.
On Thursday, during an event marking Nigeria’s return to democracy, Tinubu hailed the group, including writer Ken Saro-Wiwa, as “national heroes.”
The men, part of the Ogoni ethnic group in the oil-rich Niger Delta, were hanged in 1995 by Gen. Sani Abacha’s regime after being convicted of murdering four local chiefs.
They had protested environmental pollution by multinational oil companies, particularly Shell.
Their trial and execution sparked international outrage at the time, with rights groups decrying it as unjust and lacking credible evidence.
Local rights and civil society groups have since described Tinubu’s pardon as misleading and “insulting.”
Ken Henshaw, executive director of “We The People,” argued that a pardon implies wrongdoing, whereas the execution process never proved their guilt.
He called Tinubu’s action a “misnomer.”
Isa Sanusi, Amnesty International Nigeria’s director, stated that the Nigerian government must formally recognize the activists as “innocent of any crime and fully exonerate them.”
Sanusi emphasized that “full justice for the Ogoni Nine is only a first step,” advocating for further accountability for communities in the Niger Delta, including holding Shell and other oil companies responsible for environmental damage.
