Ogoni 9: Austria-based Group Demands Exoneration, Urges Tinubu to go Beyond Symbolic Presidential Pardon 

The Niger Delta Initiative Austria (NDIA), in collaboration with Klimaprotest Austria and several international human rights and environmental organizations, has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to fully exonerate the nine Ogoni people killed on 10 November 1995 by the military junta led by General Sani Abacha , saying that granting them a symbolic presidential pardon was not enough.

The victims were environmental activists Ken Saro-Wiwa, Barinem Kiobel, John Kpuinen, Baribor Bera, Felix Nuate, Paul Levula, Saturday Dobee, Nordu Eawo, and Daniel Gbokoo.

The group made the call at a programme held in Vienna, Austria, on Monday to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the execution of the Ogoni 9.

The solemn event included a public gathering, speeches, and a peaceful march to the Nigerian Embassy. 

At the programme, participants called on the administration of President Tinubu to go beyond symbolic gestures and fully exonerate Ken Saro-Wiwa and the eight other Ogoni activists unjustly executed by the military regime of General Sani Abacha on November 10, 1995.

Speaking, President and founder of NDIA, Nyherovwo Ochuko Ohimor-Eriema, said, “A pardon implies guilt, but these men were never guilty. They were wronged. Until they are formally exonerated, Nigeria will continue to carry the moral burden of that injustice.”

“The world remembers Ken Saro-Wiwa not as a criminal, but as a visionary who spoke truth to power and gave his life for the land and people of the Niger Delta,” he added.

The NDIA also used the occasion to demand urgent action on the ongoing environmental crisis in the Niger Delta, which continues to suffer from oil spills, gas flaring, and widespread ecological degradation decades after Saro-Wiwa’s campaign began.

“The Niger Delta still bleeds,” Ohimor-Eriema said, adding, “Our rivers are poisoned, our farmlands destroyed, and our children grow up breathing gas flares instead of fresh air. The government must move beyond promises and deliver genuine cleanup, regulation, and accountability.”

The organization urged the Nigerian government to fully implement the Ogoni Cleanup Project with transparency and community participation, enact and enforce stricter environmental laws to hold multinational oil companies accountable, and invest in sustainable development and alternative livelihoods for communities affected by decades of oil pollution.

NDIA further appealed to the international community, global media, and human rights organizations to continue drawing attention to the plight of the Niger Delta and to support grassroots movements demanding environmental justice.

“The struggle for the Niger Delta is not just a Nigerian issue; it is a human issue, a climate issue, and a justice issue. We call on the world to stand with us, to amplify our voices until justice flows like our rivers once did,” Ohimor-Eriema emphasized.

The 30th Anniversary Commemoration of the Ogoni 9 serves as both a remembrance of the past and a renewed call to action to restore dignity, justice, and environmental balance to the Niger Delta region and its people.