ABUJA, Nigeria — Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu has posthumously pardoned nine environmental activists executed 30 years ago by the then-ruling military junta, drawing sharp criticism and anger from activists who argued on Friday that the individuals committed no crime.
During an event Thursday to mark the 26th anniversary of Nigeria’s return to democracy, Tinubu pardoned the “Ogoni Nine,” including celebrated writer Ken Saro-Wiwa, and described them as “national heroes.”
The men were convicted of murdering four local chiefs and were hanged in 1995 by the then-military regime led by Gen. Sani Abacha. They were part of the Ogoni ethnic group in the oil-rich Niger Delta region, and had protested environmental pollution in the region by multinational oil companies, particularly Shell.
Their trial and murder sparked international outrage at the time, with rights groups calling it unjust and lacking credible evidence.
Local rights and civil society groups described Tinubu’s pardon as misleading and “insulting.”
“A pardon is given to people who have been convicted of wrongdoing,” said Ken Henshaw, executive director of local rights group We The People.
Henshaw said the process leading to their execution did not prove that they were guilty of the allegations against them. “For him (Tinubu) to say he wants to pardon them is a misnomer,” he added.
The Nigerian government must also recognize formally that the murdered activists are “innocent of any crime and fully exonerate them,” said Isa Sanusi, Amnesty International Nigeria’s director.
“Full justice for the Ogoni Nine is only a first step,” said Sanusi. “Much more needs to be done to get justice for communities in the Niger Delta, including holding Shell and other oil companies to account for the damage they have done and continue to do.”
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