Ken Saro Wiwa’s Daughter Asks For Judicial Review Of  Father’s Condemnation

By Adesina Soyooye

Noo Saro-Wiwa, a daughter of the late Ogoni Environmentalist and Writer, Ken Saro-Wiwa, has demanded for a judicial review of the proceedings of the Tribunal which condemned  her father to death by hanging.

Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogonis were tried by a Tribunal and sentenced to death by hanging in 1993 under the Military Regime of late Head of State Sani Abacha.

Their condemnation stemmed from their individual and/or collective roles – either by incitement or physical participation – in the gruesome murder of four very prominent Ogoni Chiefs whose bodies, till date, have not been seen for a decent burial by their families.

Saro-Wiwa and co. were put to death on November 10, 1993.

However, on June 12, 2025, Nigeria’s Democratic Day, while addressing a joint sitting of the National Assembly, President Tinubu not only granted Saro-Wiwa and his eight co-travellers full Presidential pardon, but called them heroes and conferred on them National Honours.

The four prominent Ogoni Chiefs, gruesomely murdered, and whose bodies have not been seen were omitted; they were not remembered; no reference was made to them.

But Saro-Wiwa’s daughter, Noo, is not fully satisfied with the full Presidential pardon granted his father and the eight others, or the National Honours conferred on them.

She wants more.

In a letter dated 15 June, 2025, in which she thanked President Tinubu for the pardon and honour granted his father, she is asking for a judicial review of the proceedings of the Tribunal which sentenced his father to death. Having conferred on him the National Honour of the Commander of the Order of the Niger, she argues, it means that his father was innocent of the crime for which he was hanged to death.

The full text of her letter reads:

“The family of Ken Saro-Wiwa acknowledges President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Presidential pardon and the conferment of national honours on Ken Saro-Wiwa, Saturday Dobee, Nordu Eawo, Daniel Gbokoo, Paul Levura, Felix Nuate, Baribor Bera, Barinem Kiobel, John Kpuinen and Ledum Mitee.

“We appreciate the conferment of Commander Order of the Niger (CON) on our Father and OON on the other eight Ogoni activists in recognition of their peaceful campaign for environmental justice, political and human rights in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.

“We want to believe that the conferment of these national honours symbolizes the innocence of these heroes and further reinforces the global view that the judgement given almost 30 years ago was flawed and their execution considered to be judicial murder. In fact, our father and his compatriots were innocent and peaceful activists who drew the attention of the world to the plight of the Ogoni people who suffered environmental devastation due to oil drilling by Shell.

“While thanking President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for doing the right thing, we further request a review of the judicial proceedings leading to the erroneous judgement, which occasioned such a colossal loss to our family, the Ogoni people and concerned Nigerians.

“Such a review will heal all wounds and ensure that further miscarriages of justice are not continuously visited on persons protesting their fundamental rights as guaranteed in the Constitution. We believe that this review will lead to a complete exoneration of our heroes.

“Noo Saro-Wiwa (June 13, 2025”

The Commonwealth expelled Nigeria from its midst over the hanging of Ken Saro-Wiwa.