The groups are the National Union of Ogoni Students International (NUOS INT’L USA) and the Center for Democracy, Human Rights and Anti-Corruption International (CDHRAC INT’L USA).

Two prominent Ogoni diaspora groups in the United States have firmly rejected the posthumous national awards and presidential pardon granted by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the late environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni activists.

The groups are the National Union of Ogoni Students International (NUOS INT’L USA) and the Center for Democracy, Human Rights and Anti-Corruption International (CDHRAC INT’L USA).

In a statement jointly signed by Mr. Pius Nwinee, President of NUOS INT’L USA, and Mr. Cornelius Dumerenee, Coordinator of CDHRAC INT’L USA, the groups described the move as a “strategic political gesture” that falls short of true justice and accountability for the long-suffering Ogoni people of Rivers State, Nigeria.

The groups emphasised that a pardon implies guilt, whereas exoneration is a formal declaration of innocence. They argue that the 1995 hanging of Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni Eight under the military regime of the late General Sani Abacha was based on trumped-up charges and lacked due process.

The organisations also criticised the earlier 2005 pardon granted by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, calling both gestures “symbolic without substance.”

NUOS INT’L USA and CDHRAC INT’L USA called on the Tinubu administration to establish an independent judicial commission to review the trial and execution of the Ogoni Nine.

They further demanded the prosecution of individuals responsible for the 1995 executions, the burning of 17 Ogoni villages, and the killing of over 100 civilians during military crackdowns allegedly instigated by Royal Dutch Shell in collaboration with the Nigerian government.

The groups described the “posthumous awards and pardon given to the late environmental activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa, and eight others by President Bola Tinubu during the June 12 Democracy Day speech” as “a strategic political move”.

"Unfortunately, this move is no different from the pardon granted by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2005. We believe that such awards cannot heal the years of degradation suffered by the people of Ogoniland in Rivers State,” they said.

The groups rejected the “purported presidential pardon and the imposition of any other oil company, under any pseudo name, to prospect for oil” and “any attempt to resume oil production in Ogoniland”.

They said, “After the innocent and wrongful deaths of the Ogoni Nine, we wish to inform Ogoni ‘running stomach’ politicians advocating otherwise that exoneration may be unknown to Nigerian law, but perhaps they should go back to school.

“NUOS INT’L USA and CDHRAC are calling on President Bola Tinubu to confer presidential honours on the Ogoni Four, whom the government and Shell used as pawns. We reiterate that a pardon is not acceptable for the late Chief Ken Saro-Wiwa and the eight other Ogoni activists.

“There is a distinction between a pardon—typically granted to convicted criminals—and an exoneration, which is a formal declaration of innocence. We, therefore, call on the Federal Government of Nigeria to establish an independent judicial commission to review the conviction and execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa and the eight other Ogoni activists.

“What the then military government did—convicting and hanging innocent people based on trumped-up charges—is unjustifiable. They must be exonerated or retried, and their families, along with the people of Ogoniland, should be compensated for the killings and the decades of environmental degradation caused by oil exploration and spillage.

“Our groups are demanding the prosecution of those responsible for the 1995 executions of Ken Saro-Wiwa and the eight Ogoni activists, the Ogoni Four, and the burning of 17 Ogoni towns and villages, where over 100 people were killed in the attacks.

“We are also calling for a formal apology from the Nigerian government and the exoneration or retrial of Ken Saro-Wiwa and his colleagues.

“We condemn over five decades of oil exploration and oil theft in Ogoniland by Royal Dutch Shell, in collaboration with the Nigerian state, and demand an immediate halt to such activities.”

“For the sake of argument, let us assume—wrongly—that Ken Saro-Wiwa and the eight activists were murderers, as Shell and the government would have us believe. Would it then also be said that they instigated the burning of 17 Ogoni towns and villages and the killing of over 100 people in the tribal war? If that were true, why were they not prosecuted for those actions?” they said.

Tehy also condemned the “militarisation of governance in Rivers State”.

“We demand the removal of Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas (Rtd.) as sole administrator, the reinstatement of Governor Siminalayi Fubara—who was unjustly suspended—and an end to the illegal and undemocratic state of emergency in Rivers State,” the groups added.