The Ogoni Nine were a group of nine activists from the

Ogoni The Ogonis are a people in the Rivers South East senatorial district of Rivers State, in the Niger Delta region of southern Nigeria. They number just over 2 million and live in a homeland which they also refer to as Ogoniland. They share common ...

region of

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

who opposed the operating practices of the

Royal Dutch Shell Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New Yo ...

oil corporation. Their members included outspoken author and playwright

Ken Saro-Wiwa Kenule Beeson "Ken" Saro-Wiwa (10 October 1941 – 10 November 1995) was a Nigerian writer, television producer, and environmental activist. Ken Saro-Wiwa was a member of the Ogoni people, an ethnic minority in Nigeria whose homeland, Ogonilan ...

, Saturday Dobee, Nordu Eawo, Daniel Gbooko, Paul Levera, Felix Nuate, Baribor Bera, Barinem Kiobel, and John Kpuine (Tripathi, p.189), who were executed by

hanging Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging i ...

at the 10th of November 1995 by the military dictatorship of General

Sani Abacha Sani Abacha (20 September 1943 – 8 June 1998) was a Nigerian military officer and politician who ruled as the military head of state of Nigeria from 1993 until his death in 1998. He seized power on 17 November 1993 in the last successful c ...

and buried in

Port Harcourt Cemetery Port Harcourt Cemetery is a city-owned and operated public cemetery located along Aggrey Road in the Old Township district of Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital. It is the oldest cemetery still in use in the city and is notable as the bur ...

. The executions provoked international condemnation and led to the increasing treatment of Nigeria as a

pariah state A pariah state (also called an international pariah or a global pariah) is a nation considered to be an outcast in the international community. A pariah state may face international isolation, sanctions or even an invasion by nations who find its ...

until General Abacha's mysterious death in 1998. Saro-Wiwa had previously been a critic of the

oil corporation, and had been imprisoned for a year prior to the executions in November 1995. At least two witnesses who testified that Saro-Wiwa was involved in the murders of the Ogoni elders later recanted, stating that they had been bribed with money and offers of jobs with Shell to give false testimony – in the presence of Shell's lawyer.The Case Against Shell

References

* Salil Tripathi, "Praise the Lord and Buy Insurance", ''

Index on Censorship Index on Censorship is an organization campaigning for freedom of expression, which produces a quarterly magazine of the same name from London. It is directed by the non-profit-making Writers and Scholars International, Ltd (WSI) in association w ...

'' Volume 34, Number 4, 2005. p.188–192. ISSN 0306-4220. 20th-century executions by Nigeria Quantified groups of defendants Executed Nigerian people People executed by Nigeria by hanging Nonets Ken Saro-Wiwa Burials at the Port Harcourt Cemetery {{nigeria-stub

See also

References