The Ijaw under the auspices of Ijaw National Congress (INC) said on Saturday applauded proposed plans to grant state pardon to late Ken Saro-Wwa.and demanded that an apology was most appropriate.
The INC urged the Federal Government should appease to the people of
Ogoni Kingdom, Ijaw nation and the entire Niger Delta for the alleged wrongful
killing of Saro-Wiwa in November 1995.
Prof Benjamin Okaba, President of INC made the position known in a
statement he issued in Yenagoa while reacting to the proposed state pardon by
the Federal Government for the slain Ogoni activist and writer.
President Muhammadu Buhari had said the Federal Government would
consider granting state pardon for Saro-Wiwa to close the "Ogoni 9
saga" when leaders from Ogoniland paid him a visit in Abuja on Friday.
Saro-Wiwa and eight of his kinsmen were executed on November 10, 1995 on
the orders of a special military tribunal set up by the regime of the late
General Sani Abacha.
The panel sentenced them to death by hanging for allegedly masterminding
the gruesome murder of some Ogoni chiefs at a pro-government rally during the
height of Saro-Wiwa's non-violent campaign against environmental and resource
injustice.
The INC noted that the murder of Sara-Wiwa and his fellow compatriots
became known as the "Ogoni 9 saga", an incident that attracted
sanctions on Nigeria by the United Kingdom, the United States of America and the
international community.
The statement is titled, "The Ijaws, Ogonis And The Niger Delta
Demand Apology, Not Pardon.
The INC described the proposal as laughable and fall short of addressing
the people's right to self-determination and resource control.
It insisted that the government ought to say sorry to the people for the
way and manner Saro-Wiwa and others were reportedly killed "as a result of
their peaceful campaigns against economic exploration, environmental
despoliation and gross abuse of the people's fundamental human and resource
rights."
"We wonder what crime Ken Saro-Wiwa and others committed that
warrant state pardon.
“Secondly, even if he was allowed the defence, was he given the right of
appeal? What are the positive aftermaths of Ken Ken Saro-Wiwa's agitation?
"Would there have been the UNEP Report on Ogoni clean-up if Ken
Saro-Wiwa and others did not draw the attention of state and international
community to various human and environmental infractions meted out to the
people?
"Now that the Federal Government has suddenly realized their wrongs
and equally expressed willingness to seek reconciliation and national
integration, we urge them to courageously go the whole hug as follows:
"Bring to book all persons, including the presiding judge and other
officers, that were directly and indirectly involved in the unfortunate incident.
"Justice should also be extended to the innocent Ogoni youths and
other Niger Delta people who were unlawfully massacred by state operatives for
merely displaying green leaves in condemnation of the ghastly act." Okaba
stated.
According to him, the last few words of Saro-Wiwa, 'You can kill the
messenger, but not the message', remained very apt several years after.
He said it is regrettable that Ogoniland, Ijaw nation and the entire
Niger Delta continued to suffer injustices, inequalities and rape of their
freedom and right to control their God-given resources.
He further said,"The people and the environment of the Niger Delta,
in spite of the seeming interventions, have remained in a state of misery to
the extent that the local economy has been disarticulated.
"In spite of our enormous contribution to the nation's economy, the
standard of living in our region is demoralizing and demeaning.
“State laws on Land Use, Petroleum Industry Act, Petroleum Act and other
obnoxious policies have perpetually kept us as slaves and impoverished us in
the midst of our God-given resources in the region.
"For us, true reconciliation should begin with the abrogation of
these obnoxious laws and upward review of the principle of derivation to a
minimum of 50 per cent.
“Thereafter, the envisaged apology and reparation will be functionally
meaningful to also prevent a reoccurrence of injustices against persons who
express their fundamental human rights to demand justice and equity.
"All the dramatis personae and others involved in Ken Saro-Wiwa's
case, dead and living, should be brought to book as a lesson for others."
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