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Tag: Isa Sanusi

  • Nigeria: Government must clear the names of executed activists Ogoni Nine

    Nigeria: Government must clear the names of executed activists Ogoni Nine

    …The Ogoni Nine’s protests in 1995 brought global attention to the devastating cost of the fossil fuel industry on the climate, people’s lives, the environment, and continued poverty in oil producing areas

    Marking 30 years since the Nigerian government’s brutal execution of nine leading environmental activists – the Ogoni Nine – for fighting to protect the Niger Delta from oil giant Shell, Amnesty International is calling for their full exoneration. The anniversary coincides with the start of the UN climate talks (COP 30) in Brazil.

    The Ogoni Nine’s protests in 1995 brought global attention to the devastating cost of the fossil fuel industry on the climate, people’s lives, the environment, and continued poverty in oil-producing areas.

    In June 2025, the Nigerian government pardoned the Ogoni Nine. While Amnesty International welcomed the news, it fell short of the justice the Ogoni Nine and their families deserve.

    “The Ogoni Nine, led by Nigeria’s leading author and campaigner Ken Saro-Wiwa, were brutally executed in 1995 by a regime that wanted to hide the crimes of Shell and other oil companies. These companies were destroying – and continue to destroy – the lives and livelihoods of tens of thousands of people across the Niger Delta as a result of their devastating oil spills and leaks,” said Isa Sanusi, Amnesty International’s Nigeria Country Director.  

    “While their pardon was a step forward, the Ogoni Nine deserve full exoneration. These men were executed for a crime they did not commit. Their friends and family have been through enough and they deserve justice.”

    Esther Kiobel, the wife of Dr Barinem Kiobel, a former government official who was one of the Ogoni Nine, has spent 30 years battling the huge oil conglomerate in and out of court and won’t stop until her husband’s name is cleared.

    “My husband was killed like a criminal and all I wanted was for his name to be exonerated – it’s what I still want. My father used to tell me: ‘A good name is better than gold or silver.’ That is what gave me the strength to fight.”

    A brutal campaign

    The executions were the culmination of a brutal campaign by Nigeria’s military government to silence the protests of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) who, under Ken Saro-Wiwa’s leadership, had campaigned against continued pollution from oil spills and gas flaring.

    “Extensive reporting from Amnesty International concluded that oil company Shell knowingly provided encouragement and motivation to the military authorities to stop the MOSOP protests, even after the authorities repeatedly committed human rights violations in Ogoniland and specifically targeted Ken Saro-Wiwa and MOSOP,” said Isa Sanusi.

    In 2018, Amnesty International shared its reporting with the International Crimes Unit of the Netherlands Public Prosecution Service to evaluate whether Shell bore criminal responsibility for its involvement in the military crackdown on the MOSOP demonstrations.

    The Dutch authorities determined, according to a private letter addressed to Amnesty International, that “a large-scale raid on 43 Ogoni villages and Giokoo” by the Nigerian military, which led to numerous killings, followed Shell’s request for assistance in securing its operations in March 1994, which Shell “knew or should have known” would lead to disproportionate force.

    According to this letter, Dutch law enforcement declined to open a criminal investigation into Shell’s responsibility because they lacked “enough evidence that Shell intended to have the demonstrators killed by the various Nigerian troops” and believed that they had no “realistic” prospect of collecting such evidence.

    However, according to Amnesty International, the evidence established sufficient grounds for Dutch authorities to investigate Shell’s criminal responsibility.

    Devastating effects still felt today

    The effects of the Ogoni Nine’s executions are still felt across local communities today.

    For 60 years Shell and other oil companies have been responsible for oil spills and leaks due to poorly maintained pipelines, wells and inadequate clean-up attempts that have ravaged the health and livelihoods of many of the 30 million people living in the Niger Delta – most of whom live in poverty. The oil spills have caused permanent damage to farmlands, waterways, and drinking water – affecting people’s health and leaving communities unable to farm or fish.

    “The execution of these activists has given the Nigerian government and oil companies, including Shell, licence to crack down on protests and intimidate people in the Niger Delta who have been demanding justice and an end to their toxic pollution,” said Isa Sanusi. 

    However, the Ogale and Bille communities affected by the oil spills refuse to be silenced. This year saw them take Shell to the UK’s Royal Courts of Justice to demand the oil giant clean up the oil spills that have wrecked their livelihoods, health and caused widespread devastation to the local environment. Their case is scheduled to be heard in March 2027.

    All eyes on fossil fuels

    With the start of COP 30, the world’s attention is set to turn to the devastating effects of fossil fuels, as Amnesty International calls for states to commit to a full, fast, fair and funded fossil-fuel phase-out and just transition to sustainable energy for all.

    “With major oil spills yet to be cleaned up, the story of the Ogoni Nine has never been more pertinent. Their fight continues and their memories will never be forgotten, as will the plight of many other activists who continue to defend the environment,” said Isa Sanusi.

    “As we mark the 30th anniversary of these executions, we hope local communities in Nigeria will be given the space, time and dignity to hold remembrance events for the Ogoni Nine free of harassment from the authorities.”

    On 12 November, Amnesty International will release Extraction Extinction: Why the life cycle of fossil fuels threatens life, nature, and human rights, a new report on environmental human rights defenders which includes a dedication to the Ogoni Nine and a full case study on oil pollution in the Niger Delta.

    Amnesty International is calling for Shell to conduct meaningful consultation with affected communities about its plans for disengagement. Irrespective of any divestment of operations and as part of this consultation, Shell must also propose a full remediation plan including details of all completed and ongoing clean-ups across its areas of operation, as well as adequate compensation for the severe and sustained harm affected communities have faced as a result of Shell’s operations in the Niger Delta. All these plans and processes should be in line with international human rights law and standards.

    BACKGROUND

    The Ogoni Nine, led by environmental activist and writer Ken Saro-Wiwa, included Barinem Kiobel, John Kpuinen, Baribor Bera, Felix Nuate, Paul Levula, Saturday Dobee, Nordu Eawo and Daniel Gbokoo. They were executed after a blatantly unfair trial on 10 November 1995. Wrongly accused of involvement in murder, the men had in fact been put on trial because they challenged the devastating impact of oil production by Shell in the Ogoniland region of the Niger Delta. 

    Amnesty International has published numerous reports, documenting the detrimental impact Shell’s operations are having on Nigerian communities.

  • Nigeria: Thousands killed, hundreds forcibly disappeared in two years in South-East region

    Nigeria: Thousands killed, hundreds forcibly disappeared in two years in South-East region

    …The report is based on interviews with 100 people, including survivors, victims’ relatives, civil society members, lawyers, traditional leaders, and religious leaders

    • 1,844 people killed between January 2021 and June 2023
    • Gunmen killed over 400 people in Imo state between 2019 and 2021
    • Hundreds of people arbitrarily detained and forcibly disappeared

    The Nigerian authorities’ persistent failure to address the security crisis in the country’s South-East region has created a free-for-all reign of impunity in which numerous state and non-state actors have committed serious human rights violations and killed at least 1,844 people between January 2021 and June 2023, Amnesty International said today.

    The report, A Decade of Impunity: Attacks and Unlawful Killings in Southeast Nigeria, documents unlawful killings, torture and other ill-treatment, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests and displacement at the hands of rampaging gunmen, state-backed paramilitary outfits, vigilantes, criminal gangs and cults in the South-East region between January 2021 and December 2024.

    “The Nigerian authorities’ brutal clampdown on pro-Biafra protests from August 2015 plunged the South-East region into an endless cycle of bloodshed, which has created a climate of fear and left many communities vulnerable. Assassinations of prominent personalities and attacks on highways, security personnel, and facilities are chilling reminders of the region’s insecurity,” said Isa Sanusi, Director of Amnesty International Nigeria.

    “The government must stop turning a blind eye to the unlawful killings, arbitrary arrests and detention, torture, enforced disappearances, and destruction of properties in the South-East region. Authorities must live up to their constitutional and international human rights obligations including by ensuring all suspected perpetrators are brought to justice in fair trial, no matter who they are, and that victims and their families have access to justice and effective remedies.”

    The report is based on interviews with 100 people, including survivors, victims’ relatives, civil society members, lawyers, traditional leaders, and religious leaders. Amnesty International also conducted research missions to Owerri in Imo state, Asaba in Delta state, Obosi in Anambra state, and Enugu in Enugu state between April 2023 to November 2023.

    Violent attacks by “unknown gunmen”

    Gunmen killed over 400 people in Imo state between January 2019 and December 2021, often emerging from their camps unmasked to carry out attacks on residents, police stations, and vigilante offices. The raids have triggered reprisal attacks resulting in death and injury for thousands of residents.

    Victims described how the gunmen appear, routinely demanding money from communities during burial ceremonies and weddings. Anyone who resists risks being subjected to violent attack during the night, and their house set on fire.

    Ebulie, who survived an attack by gunmen in Ihiala told Amnesty International: “The “unknown gunmen” are armed – some come with guns, cutlasses, and machetes. If they come for an attack, anyone that blocks their way, they will kill them. It has been a terrible situation, people are scared…”

    Nigerian authorities continue to blame the pro-Biafran organization IPOB (Indigenous People of Biafra) and its militant arm, the Eastern Security Network (ESN) for most of the deadly attacks in the region. IPOB/ESN deny involvement in the activities of the “unknown gunmen” and their camps.

    However, the enforcement of a sit-at-home order by IPOB/ESN, across the South-East region, issued on 9 August 2021, has led to human rights violations, with people beaten or even killed for defying the order. Schools have been shut, exams disrupted, forcing children to stay away from school. Markets have been closed with harsh economic consequences for communities across Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo states.

    Climate of fear and disruption to daily life

    Insecurity in South-East Nigeria has affected people’s rights including the rights to life, physical integrity, security, liberty and freedom of movement. Many people have not travelled to their hometowns for several years for fear of attack or abduction. Traditional marriage and burial ceremonies that were normally conducted in people’s ancestral homes now mostly take place in other communities outside the South-East due to fear of attack by the gunmen.

    Gunmen have turned some communities into “ungoverned spaces,” by sacking traditional rulers, displacing residents, and taking total control of communities, including Agwa and Izombe in the Oguta Local Government Area (LGA) of Imo state and Lilu in Ihiala LGA of Anambra State.

    Amnesty International’s report also documents abuses and killings by various cult groups, which operate unchecked amidst a thriving drug business, in several towns in Anambra state, including Obosi, Awka, Onitsha, Ogidi and Umuoji.

    The report reveals how the state-backed Ebube Agu paramilitary force, established by the South-East governors on 11 April 2021, has been used as a tool to harass and intimidate opponents and critics of the state governments. It is also responsible for arbitrary arrests and detention, torture, extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, and destruction of homes.

    During military operations in the South-East, Nigerian security agencies, including the military and police, committed unlawful killings, arbitrary arrests and detention, torture, enforced disappearances, and destruction of property.

    Despite the scale of the atrocities against the people, justice and adequate reparations have eluded victims of the violence.

    “No one knows exactly the number of people killed in the southeast since August 2015. Many people have been declared missing or forcibly disappeared. The number of high-profile killings and the consistent fear of possible attacks, anywhere and anytime, show how badly the authorities are failing to protect lives and property and ensure law and order. Impunity for these human rights crimes continues to have a chilling effect on the enjoyment of other human rights,” said Isa Sanusi.

    “The Nigerian authorities must uphold their constitutional and international human rights obligations by guaranteeing, protecting and ensuring the rights to life, physical integrity, and liberty security and safety of the people and stemming the tide of rampant insecurity in South-East region. Authorities must undertake prompt, thorough, independent, impartial, transparent and effective investigations into all allegations of violations and abuses committed by state and non-state actors in the region.”

    Background

    Amnesty International has been documenting human rights violations by state, non-state, criminal gangs, and state backed paramilitary outfits in the south since August 2015. This report builds on the research published on 24 November 2016, detailing brutal  crackdown on pro-Biafra activists by Nigerian security forces. Findings of this report were shared with the governors of South-East states and Nigeria’s security agencies. No response was received.