A group under the aegis of Clean Environmental Foundation (CEF) has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to grant a state pardon to the murdered Ogoni leader, Ken Saro-Wiwa, declare the late activist a national hero, name a national monument after him, and pay compensation to his family.
Besides, the group also called on President Tinubu to grant a state pardon to the eight others who were hanged alongside the late environmental activist and pay compensation to their families.
It would be recalled that Saro-Wiwa, who had raised the banner of resistance against environmental injustice to the global level, was hanged in November 1995 alongside eight others by the late General Sani Abacha-led military government, following the mass attack on four leading Ogoni leaders.
The military government blamed him for the killing, but many saw it as a plot by the government to nail its avowed enemy.
A tribunal was subsequently set up by the military, which culminated in the death sentence passed on Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni leaders.
The trial drew global condemnation from leaders across the world, including the then South African President, Nelson Mandela.
CEF, while making the call on Wednesday in a statement signed by its Executive Director, Isaac Omomedia, said President Tinubu needed to understand the pain, misery, and agony the Niger Delta people faced due to the murder of Saro-Wiwa, noting that the return of oil exploration in Ogoni was not as important as building broken trust between the Ogoni and the Nigerian authorities.
According to CEF, a leading environmental group in West Africa, whose Technical Team recently conducted extensive research and a tour of the Niger Delta to assess damage to the ecosystem and other biodiversity issues, the government should not give the impression that it is more interested in profit than in justice.
“We call on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to extend a state pardon to Ken Saro-Wiwa and the eight others judicially murdered by the Nigerian State under Gen Sani Abacha.
“The president should declare Saro-Wiwa a national hero after the state pardon that should be granted to him and the eight others.
“The return of oil exploration in Ogoni is not as important as building broken trust between the Ogoni and the Nigerian authorities. The government should not give the impression that it is more interested in profit than in justice,” the group said.
CEF Executive Director, Omomedia, sadly noted that up till this very moment, an average Ogoni man feels depressed, marginalised, and traumatised by the killing of Saro-Wiwa, who he said “stood out as a man of peace that never resorted to armed insurrection, yet he was killed by the Nigerian state.”
Omomedia said should President Tinubu accede to the requests made to him by the group, he would instantly enjoy the support of the Ogoni people and the entire Niger Delta.
“President Tinubu should do the right thing. He will instantly enjoy the support of the Ogoni people and the entire Niger Delta if he can be courageous enough to reclaim the lost trust between Ogoni and the Nigerian state,” he said.
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