Femi Falana accuses Abacha’s regime of framing Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni Nine to silence their protest against oil exploitation in Ogoniland

Femi Falana on Ken Saro-Wiwa execution Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, has accused the late military regime of General Sani Abacha of framing and unjustly executing environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other leaders of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP).

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Falana made the claim while delivering the keynote address at the Ken Saro-Wiwa 30th Memorial Lecture held in Port Harcourt on Friday, according to Arise News.

Reflecting on the Ogoni crisis of the 1990s, which was sparked by environmental devastation caused by Shell Petroleum’s operations in the Niger Delta, Falana said the Abacha government executed the MOSOP leaders to crush local resistance and protect multinational oil interests.

“Ken and his comrades did not commit murder. Please take it from me,” Falana stated. “The Abacha regime decided to deal with MOSOP, led by Ken, and the only way to do that was to let Shell continue exploiting your resources no objection while charging your leaders for murder.”

He alleged that the killings which led to Saro-Wiwa’s arrest were orchestrated by government agents. “The regime got people, instigated by them and paid by them, to kill the four leaders Kobani and others. It was the regime that killed them,” he said.

According to Falana, even before investigations began, the authorities had already predetermined that Saro-Wiwa and other MOSOP leaders would be blamed for the deaths.

“Before any investigation, Paul Komo, the then military governor, said publicly, ‘We’re going to hold Ken and other MOSOP leaders for the murder in Yogbo.’

They weren’t even there,” Falana recalled. “You cannot hold someone vicariously liable for a criminal offence — but that’s what happened in Ken Saro-Wiwa’s case.”

The lawyer further revealed that key evidence proving the innocence of the accused was suppressed during the military tribunal. “We had a tape showing that the killings were premeditated.

When we tried to tender it in court, the tribunal rose abruptly. They were told, ‘If you allow that tape in, it’s the end of our case.’”

The Ken Saro-Wiwa Memorial Lecture honours the late writer and activist who led peaceful campaigns against environmental degradation and the marginalisation of the Ogoni people by oil companies and the Nigerian state.

For nearly three decades, the execution of Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni Nine has stood as a symbol of injustice and repression in Nigeria’s human rights history.

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In 2025, President Bola Tinubu granted a posthumous pardon to Saro-Wiwa and his fellow activists, formally acknowledging that they were wrongfully executed.