“President Bola Tinubu has granted a full state pardon and national honours to the Ogoni Nine, nearly 30 years after their execution.”
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Thursday granted a full posthumous pardon and national honours to Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni activists executed in 1995 under General Sani Abacha’s regime.
Speaking during a joint sitting of the National Assembly, Tinubu described the activists as “national heroes.”
“I shall also be exercising my powers under the prerogative of mercy to grant these national heroes a full pardon,” the president announced.
Saro-Wiwa, a renowned writer and environmentalist, was awarded the Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON), while the other eight—Saturday Dobee, Nordu Eawo, Daniel Gbooko, Paul Levera, Felix Nuate, Baribor Bera, Barinem Kiobel, and John Kpuine—received the Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON).
Their execution for protesting oil-related environmental degradation in Ogoniland sparked international condemnation and Nigeria’s suspension from the Commonwealth.
The move was welcomed by activists and human rights groups as a long-overdue actually of national reconciliation.