Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Femi Falana, has accused the late Gen. Sani Abacha military regime of masterminding the killings of the Ogoni Four and orchestrating the execution of the Ogoni Nine in 1995.
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Falana, however, commended President Bola Tinubu for implementing the recommendations of relevant panels by granting posthumous pardons to the Ogoni Nine and conferring national honours on the Ogoni 13, describing it as “a historic step toward closure and unity among the Ogoni people.”
He spoke in Port Harcourt yesterday during the 84th posthumous birthday lecture of Ken Saro-Wiwa, offering a detailed account of the events leading to the tragic deaths, which he described as “state-sanctioned murders carried out to protect oil interests in the Niger Delta.”
Falana recalled that he and the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN) defended Saro-Wiwa and other leaders of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) but were forced to withdraw after a special military tribunal repeatedly blocked critical evidence. He described the tribunal as a “mock trial” designed to secure convictions, saying it rejected vital defence evidence to ensure the death sentences of the Ogoni Nine were carried out.
“In a desperate bid to exploit the oil resources without control, Shell Petroleum Development Company was granted licences by the Nigerian state to import arms under the guise of protecting its assets. Those weapons were later used by militant youths incited to attack their own communities,” Falana alleged.
He accused the regime’s task force, led by Col. Paul Okuntimo, of recruiting militants to assassinate the Ogoni Four while soldiers at the scene failed to make arrests. “After the killings, the soldiers took the bodies to an unknown location,” he said.
Falana further alleged that the then military governor of Rivers State, Col. Dauda Komo, preemptively blamed Saro-Wiwa and other MOSOP leaders before any investigation had begun, highlighting the junta’s intent to frame and eliminate them.
“The initial murder charge filed at the Rivers State High Court was discontinued when prosecutors admitted the evidence was weak. But Abacha ordered a special military tribunal, which rejected vital defence evidence to ensure the conviction and death sentences of the Ogoni Nine,” Falana recounted.
He criticized the execution process, noting that the Provisional Ruling Council confirmed the death sentences even before the tribunal compiled its records, a move that led to Nigeria’s suspension from the Commonwealth of Nations.
Falana highlighted that the 1999 Oputa Panel on Human Rights Abuses confirmed the Ogoni Four and Nine as victims of the Abacha regime, facilitating reconciliation among the families.
He praised President Tinubu for acting on the panel’s recommendations, granting posthumous pardons to the Ogoni Nine and conferring national honours on the Ogoni 13, calling it a “historic step toward closure and unity among the Ogoni people.”
Falana also urged continued advocacy for environmental justice in the Niger Delta, noting that oil-producing communities had received over ₦358 billion from Host Community Development Trusts as of October 2025, with 536 development projects underway. However, he lamented that, despite ₦620.23 billion in derivation funds between January and May 2025, the Niger Delta states remain underdeveloped. He called on MOSOP to campaign for at least 5 per cent of state revenues to be allocated directly to oil-producing communities.
The lecture commemorated the memory of Ken Saro-Wiwa, the late environmental activist and MOSOP leader executed 30 years ago for his campaign against environmental degradation in Ogoniland.
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