The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) has welcomed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s announcement of a full presidential pardon for Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni rights activists executed in 1995, describing the move as “historic” and a bold stride toward healing a decades-old national wound.
By Chimezie Godfrey
The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) has welcomed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s announcement of a full presidential pardon for Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni rights activists executed in 1995, describing the move as “historic” and a bold stride toward healing a decades-old national wound.
In a statement signed by MOSOP President, Fegalo Nsuke, the group hailed the Democracy Day address during which President Tinubu announced ...humous pardon for the activists—widely known as the “Ogoni 9″—as a courageous step many past administrations had failed to take.
“The decision is both historic and encouraging,” Nsuke said. “Few administrations have dared to confront this painful legacy with such candor and daring. President Tinubu has again distinguished himself among Nigerian leaders as one with the wisdom and courage to answer a longstanding prayer from an oppressed populace with compassion and clarity.”
The Ogoni 9—Ken Saro-Wiwa, Dr. Nubari Kiobel, Nordu Eawo, Saturday Doobee, John Kpuinen, Paul Levura, Daniel Gbokoo, Felix Nuate, and Baribor Bera—were hanged by the Abacha military regime after a widely condemned tribunal. Their execution sparked global outrage, with human rights groups and world leaders denouncing the process as a gross miscarriage of justice.
MOSOP, however, cautioned that while the presidential pardon is a significant milestone, it does not go far enough in righting the historical wrongs done to the Ogoni 9.
“A pardon, by its nature, implies the existence of an offence,” Nsuke explained. “But in the case of Ken Saro-Wiwa and his compatriots, it is evident that no legitimate crime was committed. President Tinubu himself admitted that their execution should never have happened. His words—‘Today, we correct the record and honour their courage in the face of tyranny’—are a powerful recognition of that injustice.”
The group is now urging the President to take the next crucial step: a formal exoneration that would remove any lingering implication of guilt and fully restore the names and dignity of the slain activists.
“MOSOP humbly appeals to His Excellency to go further by initiating a formal exoneration,” the statement continued. “Such a move would be a stronger moral and legal correction, ensuring their names are no longer burdened by the stain of injustice.”
The group also called for the establishment of a Judicial Commission of Inquiry to review and repudiate the proceedings of the 1995 tribunal that sentenced the Ogoni 9.
“Setting up such a commission would be a landmark act of complete restorative justice—one that would further cement President Tinubu’s legacy as a leader not only of courage, but of conscience.”
MOSOP concluded by commending the administration’s “bold step” and expressing hope that it would be remembered by history for “completing the journey toward full justice.”