27 years after the trial and hanging of their husbands on November 10, 1995, under the military regime of General Sani Abacha, four widows out of the wives of the 9 executed men, have discontinued the pursuit of their case against multinational oil company, Shell. The women had initiated a suit in 2017 which sought to affirm the complicity in the events surrounding the trial, which led to the hanging of their husbands.
The executed men include writer, dramatist and minority rights activist Ken Saro-Wiwa . The other men who were Ogoni rights activists on the platform of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People MOSOP, were Saturday Dobee, Nordu Eawo, Daniel Gbooko, Paul Levera, Felix Nuate, Baribor Bera, Barinem Kiobel, and John Kpuinen. They had been arrested and tried following the May 1994 mob attack and killing of four Ogoni leaders who were holding a meeting perceived to be pro government, at Giokoo in Gokana, Rivers State. The four men killed were, Chief Albert Badey, Edward Kobani and two brothers, Sam and Theophilus Orage
The widows, Esther Kiobel, Victoria Bera, Blessing Eawo and Charity Levula had, gone to a court at the Hague, the Netherlands to pursue their campaign to see Shell compelled to accept complicity in the events that led to the trial and eventual execution of their husbands.
On Monday, November 7, 2022, at a session of the trial, the women indicated their wish to discontinue with the case, a move their lawyer Channa Samkalden described as ‘disappointing’. Samkalden added that, “This has been a lengthy and demanding procedure, which makes them re-live horrible events, while the outcome is most uncertain. Rather than focussing on the appeal, initiatives are now being developed aimed at providing these women with some basic financial assistance.
In March, 2022, the effort of the widows suffered a setback, as the court at the Hague determined that there was not sufficient evidence to support the widows assertion about Shell’s complicity.
The Hague court ruled that there was not enough evidence to support the widows’ assertion that Shell had bribed witnesses to give false testimony in the trial that led to the execution of their husbands. Shell reportedly made the settlements without acknowledging wrongdoing.
A statement by Shell on Monday read, “We have always denied the allegations made against Shell in this case. However, this does not in any way diminish the tragic nature of the events of 1995.”
The hnaging of Saro Wiwa and the other eight men, despite world wide protests, had led to Nigeria receiving a pariah status among many countries including those in the British Commonwealth. This status was only lifted on the return of civilian rule in Nigeria in1 999.
Shell itself, had been compelled by popular protests by the Ogoni people, to stop its exploration and exploitation of oil in the Ogoni area since 1993. It has not returned to the area for business since that time.
Looking back at the 27 years following the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight of his kinsmen by the Nigerian government, the immediate-past President of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), Mr. Legborsi Piagbara, said the Ogoni struggle has largely been a success even though some of the key issues on which the struggle was based, have not been well addressed.
He points to the global attention that has come to climate change and the role that fossil fuel and gas flaring are playing in the destruction of the environment, as a direct consequence of the Ogoni Struggle. He said the cleanup of Ogoniland, the first to be declared by the United Nations, remains a huge achievement of the Ogoni Struggle.
He said the Ogoni have been liberated from being second class citizens in their own country, to the point where identifying themselves publicly as Ogoni has become a thing of pride.
In addition, he said there has been a boom in education in Ogoniland, being a direct consequence of the awareness created by the Ogoni struggle which called out in their anthem that the Ogoni should educate themselves.
Piagbara said the greatest achievement of the Oputa Panel, which held a truth and reconciliation programme in 2000, was the reconciliation of the families of the Ogoni 4 and Ogoni . “Whichever way you want to look at it, the struggle of the Ogoni is a success,” he said.
Politically, he said some form of devolution of powers has been achieved with the creation of more local government areas for the Ogoni area, while more Ogoni people have been empowered economically.
He reiterated the call on the Nigerian government to exonerate the Ogoni 9 and clear their names in the infamous trial that was used to convict and unjustly execute them.
“We asked that Ken and the eight be exonerated, that their names be cleared because the UN and even Nigerian government should clear their names because they were wrongly convicted. He said the government can do what was done in Australia where the government declared a national healing for the ills done the Aborigines and made a public apology. This can be done with the Ogoni 9, he said.
On the crisis within MOSOP, Piagbara said while it has been a challenge, some leadrrs of Ogoni were looking into it and in due course, shall be resolved.
