Port Harcourt, October 10, 2025 – Human rights lawyer Femi Falana, SAN, stated that late environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni leaders were wrongly executed by Nigeria’s military regime under General Sani Abacha in 1995.
Falana made the remarks at the Ken Saro-Wiwa 30th Memorial Lecture in Port Harcourt.
He said the Nigerian government used a military task force led by Paul Okutimo to kill four Ogoni chiefs, then falsely accused Saro-Wiwa and his colleagues of the murders.
“Ken and his comrades did not commit murder,” Falana said. He criticized the use of vicarious liability, stating that government operatives committed the killings, but MOSOP leaders were unjustly held accountable.
Falana called the execution a grave injustice and a move to silence MOSOP while allowing oil companies to continue exploiting resources in Ogoniland.
