Niger Delta leaders hail Tinubu over pardons for Saro-Wiwa, Ogoni eight

President Bola Tinubu has granted a full state pardon and national honours to late environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni leaders, nearly 30 years after their execution by the Abacha military regime.

The announcement, made during Tinubu’s Democracy Day address at the National Assembly, was met with widespread jubilation across the Niger Delta. Leaders from the region described the gesture as a long-overdue act of justice and national healing.

Among those who hailed the move were President of the Ijaw National Congress (INC), Prof. Benjamin Okaba; National Spokesman of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), Dr. Obiuwevbi Ominimini; and President of the Movement for the Survival of Ijaw Ethnic Nationality in the Niger Delta (MOSIEND), Kennedy Tonjo-West.

Others include former Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) President Udengs Eradiri; Chairman of the Akwa Ibom Human Rights Community (AHRC), Clifford Thomas; and former PANDEF Publicity Secretary, Dr. Ken Robinson.

Saro-Wiwa was posthumously conferred with the Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON), while the others—Saturday Dobee, Nordu Eawo, Daniel Gbooko, Paul Levera, Felix Nuate, Baribor Bera, Barinem Kiobel, and John Kpuine—were awarded the Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON).

While Niger Delta leaders welcomed the pardon, some, including Ogoni-born activist Celestine Akpobari, insisted that the slain activists deserved full exoneration—not a pardon—arguing they were never guilty of any crime.