The African Action Congress in Lagos has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to expunge the conviction that led to the unlawful killing of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other men from Ogoni, Rivers State, for peacefully protesting the degradation of their environment.
In a statement by Elias Ozikpu, Publicity Secretary of the party in Lagos, the AAC said that the Buhari administration must do what was right by exonerating the Ogoni nine from all that the late General Sani Abacha regime, which killed them in 1995, accused them of.
The statement reads, “Lagos AAC notes that today, November 10, 2020 makes it exactly 25 years since Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni activists were unjustly executed by General Sani Abacha, under whose brutal reign Dictator Buhari served as Chairman of Petroleum Trust Fund.
“By virtue of his privileged position as minister at the time, it follows therefore without saying that Dictator Buhari was privy to the manipulation and composition of the secret kangaroo tribunal that hastily convicted and sentenced Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight others to death by hanging, without the slightest recourse to fair hearing.
“We further note that the activities of Ogoni 9 which were primarily centred on their non-violent campaigns against the degradation of Ogoniland by the Federal Government through Shell, constituted no known crime to warrant any arrest, trial, conviction, let alone execution.
“Consequently, we demand that by virtue of the innocence of the Ogoni 9 victims, a fact very well known to Dictator Muhammadu Buhari, the Federal Government should immediately exonerate all nine of the executed activists listed below: Ken Saro-Wiwa, Saturday Dobee, Nordu Eawo, Daniel Gbooko, Paul Levera Felix Nuate, Baribor Bera, Barinem Kiobel and John Kpuine.
“For once, Dictator Buhari’s repressive and anti-people regime should take off its garment of deceit and perpetual lies, and do that which is right.”
