Ogoni Youth Federation (OYF), an umbrella body of Ogoni youths, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to declare November 10 a public holiday in Nigeria in honour of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni martyrs, executed by the Sani Abacha military government on November 10, 1995.
The group, in a statement signed yesterday by its President, Yamaabana Legborsi, also called on Buhari to exonerate the Ogoni nine from the trumped-up allegations of the Justice Ibrahim Auta tribunal as well as to bestow posthumous national honours on them, and not a pardon, as was done in the case of M.K.O. Abiola, stating that, ‘What’s good for the goose is also good for the gander.’
The statement reads, “Pardon is granted to criminals and Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni martyrs were not found guilty of any crime as required under our corpus juris and do not deserve a pardon. They were, without fair trial, extra-judicially killed by a kangaroo military tribunal. Their execution provoked international outrage and resulted in Nigeria’s suspension from the Commonwealth of Nations.”
