Ogoni demands exoneration of Saro-Wiwa, others

A faction of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) has demanded the exoneration of Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni 8 murdered by the Nigerian government in1995.

MOSOP factional President, Fegalo Nsuke, said this has become a critical part of the Ogoni demands and would not be compromised. He stated this while speaking at an event to mark the 24th anniversary of the United Nation (UN) Secretary General’s fact-finding mission to Ogoni, which noted that the Special Tribunal that ordered Saro-Wiwa’s murder had no jurisdiction to try him and the others.

Nuske said all the Ogoni people want in Nigeria is respect for the people’s rights and justice. 

He said it was shameful that Nigeria’s response to a simple and justifiable demand for basic rights and justice by the Ogoni people in Nigeria was repression by state security forces, and the hounding by Shell through its agents, which led to the death of thousands of innocent Ogonis.

“It is unacceptable to us that our own government would incriminate our leaders, kill them in their innocence and expect us to be silent. The injustice done to the Ogoni people is unthinkable and a big shame that questions our claim to modern civilization as a country, and the only way we can reclaim our pride as a decent nation is to give justice to the Ogoni people,” he said.