Civil society organisations and human rights activists on Monday staged a peaceful protest at the Embassy of United States in Abuja to demand justice for Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni leaders executed 25 years ago.
They were hanged on November 10, 1995, by Nigeria’s military regime under late General Sani Abacha for protesting Shell’s destructive environmental practices in the Niger Delta.
The group called on the United States to intervene and prevail on the Nigerian Government to exonerate the late activists, who were unjustly executed.
Leader of the group, Sidney Usman, said the protest was aimed at drawing the attention of the Government of the United States and other Western countries to the failure of the Nigerian Government to exonerate the activists 25 years after.
He also called on the government to provide their families with adequate reparations.
The protesters urged the Nigerian Government to take all necessary steps in consultation with relevant local communities to ensure that the protection, promotion and fulfilment of the Ogoni people’s human rights including their right to a safe, healthy environment.
The rights group also called for immediate
release of six #ENDSARS protesters, who were arrested at the gate of the National Assembly for demanding good governance.
Usman said, “The Nigerian Government should unfreeze all the accounts of #ENDSARS protesters. It is undemocratic to persecute and vilify innocent Nigerians demanding an end to police brutality, insecurity, corruption and bad governance.”
