20 years ago: Human rights activist Ken Saro-Wiwa executed

On occasion of the 20th anniversary of the execution of the Nigerian writer Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni human rights activists, the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) calls for more initiatives to redevelop the oil producing regions of the Niger Delta and to ensure that the Ogoni are able to live in dignity. “For the Ogoni, the situation has barely improved during the last 20 years, since dictator Sani Abacha ordered nine of their human rights activists to be hanged. They had called for international help concerning the environmental catastrophe in the Niger Delta. Although Nigeria is a democracy today, the Niger Delta is still an ecological time bomb – and there is no respect for the fundamental human rights of the Ogoni,” said Ulrich Delius, the STP’s Africa-consultant, in Göttingen on Monday. “We welcome the fact that Nigeria’s new president Muhamadu Buhari declared the redevelopment of the Niger Delta to be an urgent task. However, statements like this have been made before – without any significant improvement of the situation of the Ogoni.”

Over the last 50 years, oil production and gas flaring have infested the soil, the air and the side arms of the Niger. Thus, the region’s oil wealth has become a curse for the indigenous inhabitants of the Niger Delta. The traditional fishermen are no longer able to live off fishing because the water is too dirty and polluted with environmental toxins. The problems and their disastrous effects on the indigenous Ogoni peoples’ health and their community life are documented in more than a dozen reports – most recently a comprehensive environmental report by the United Nations Environment Programme UNEP, published in August 2011 after five years of research. “Until now, there has been a lack of political will to implement the many recommendations in the UNEP report,” criticized Delius. “The Ogoni can only hope that Buhari will manage to stand his ground against the powerful oil industry and to show commitment for the Niger Delta and its inhabitants at last.”

Further, the STP is concerned about the fact that – two decades after Ken Saro-Wiwa was murdered – the environmental protests of many of the indigenous inhabitants of the delta are not always peaceful any more. “Disappointed by the politicians who broke their promises, it is especially the younger generation who decide to join militias and criminal gangs. Ken Saro-Wiwa would be horrified if he could see where corruption and abuse of power have led,” said Delius.

Ken Saro-Wiwa had worked closely with the Society for Threatened Peoples and discussed many of his protest action with us. Up until the end, we tried to prevent his execution. At that time, the Shell Group had responded to our protests against the consequences of oil production by sending informers to infiltrate and spy on our human rights organization.