The Nation
By Simon Utebor, Yenagoa
The Federal Government should apologise to the Ogoni Kingdom, Ijaw nation and the entire Niger Delta for the alleged wrongful killing of Ken Saro-Wiwa in November 1995, pan-Ijaw group, the Ijaw National Congress (INC), has demanded.
President of the INC, Prof. Benjamin Okaba, made the demand on Saturday in a statement in Yenagoa while reacting to the proposed state pardon by the Federal Government for the slain Ogoni activist and writer.
President Muhammadu Buhari had said the Federal Government would consider granting state pardon for Saro-Wiwa to close the “Ogoni 9 saga” when leaders from Ogoniland paid him a visit in Aso Rock, Abuja, on Friday.
Saro-Wiwa and eight of his kinsmen were executed on November 10, 1995 on the orders of a special military tribunal set up by the regime of the late General Sani Abacha.
The panel sentenced them to death by hanging for allegedly masterminding the gruesome murder of some Ogoni chiefs at a pro-government rally during the height of Saro-Wiwa’s non-violent campaign against environmental degradation and resource injustice.
The killing of Saro-Wiwa and his fellow compatriots became known as the “Ogoni 9 saga“, an incident that attracted sanctions on Nigeria by the United Kingdom, the United States of America and the international community.
Okaba in the statement entitled: ‘The Ijaws, Ogonis and The Niger Delta demand apology, not Pardon’, described the proposal as laughable.
He said the planned state pardon fell short of addressing the people’s right to self-determination and resource control.
Okaba insisted that the government ought to say sorry to the people for the way and manner Saro-Wiwa and others were reportedly killed “as a result of their peaceful campaigns against economic exploration, environmental despoliation and gross abuse of the people’s fundamental human and resource rights.”
The INC president said: “We wonder what crime Ken Saro-Wiwa and others committed that warrant state pardon. Secondly, even if he was allowed the defence, was he given the right of appeal? What are the positive aftermaths of Ken Ken Saro-Wiwa’s agitation?
“Would there have been the UNEP Report on Ogoni clean-up if Ken Saro-Wiwa and others did not draw the attention of state and international community to various human and environmental infractions meted out to the people?
“Now that the Federal Government has suddenly realized their wrongs and equally expressed willingness to seek reconciliation and national integration, we urge them to courageously go the whole hug as follows:
“Bring to book all persons, including the presiding judge and other officers that were directly and indirectly involved in the unfortunate incident (murder of the Ogoni 9).
“Justice should also be extended to the innocent…
