October 25, 2021

The Board of Directors of Ken Saro-Wiwa Foundation (KSWF) say they will not accept the proposal by President Muhammadu Buhari to grant pardon to Saro-Wiwa and eight Ogoni activists executed by the late military dictator, Sani Abacha, in 1995.

Channels Television reports that in a statement signed on behalf of the board of directors by Dr. Owen Wiwa, the KSWF asked President Buhari to grant their earlier request for the exoneration of Saro-Wiwa and eight others made by the family of the late activist.

“Ken Saro-Wiwa and the other eight Ogonis were not criminals. They were innocent activists unjustly murdered for fighting for a just cause on behalf of their oppressed community.

“The path to true peace in the region begins with justice. The cleaning up of the environment for which they campaigned and died for is a first good step.

“The exoneration of Ken Saro-Wiwa and 8 other Ogoni activists, judicially murdered on November 10 1995 is another step towards peace.

“The family of Ken Saro-Wiwa have made a request for the exoneration of Ken Saro-Wiwa to the President in the past and are still waiting for a response. We urge the President to again consider this request as a path to justice and peace.

“The family and the Foundation have not asked any individual to ask for pardon or clemency for Ken Saro-Wiwa on our behalf, nor are we aware of any group of Ogonis making such a request,” the statement read.

On Friday, President Buhari had in a statement by his special media aide, Femi Adesina, urged Ogoni leaders to sensitise indigenes on the value of protecting national assets like pipelines and other oil installations.

The president had noted that willful damages usually create more havoc on the environment and hamper development in the area.

In his address to the Ogoni leaders, President Buhari said the Federal Government is committed to the cleaning up of Ogoniland so that indigenes can regain their lives, return to farms and reactivate economic activities.

“You will need to educate the people of Ogoniland and the region more that when pipelines are broken; the damage is more to the immediate environment and the people. The majority farmers and fishermen struggle because the fishes now move to the deep sea,’’ he said.