Writer and human rights activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa was killed twenty five years on November 10 for protesting against oil spillage in Ogoni land in 1993.
It was alleged that his last words were “Lord, take my soul but, the struggle continues”.
Today is his 25th death anniversary and Nigerians have taken to social media to remember the hero.
His daughter, Noo Saro-Wiwa painfully shared the family’s ordeal after his death on Facebook.
She said her father and the others were buried in an unmarked grave for over a decade and when the family finally received his remains, they had to reassemble his skeleton with their own hands so they can give him a dignified burial.
She noted that till date, the government has not granted him an official pardon even after his death
Read her full post below,
“25 years ago today, my father Ken Saro-Wiwa and his eight colleagues were murdered by Nigeria’s military regime after a sham trial. Their only ‘crime’ was to peacefully pursue human rights for the Ogoni people and to campaign against oil spills in the oil-rich Niger Delta. Their bodies were buried in an unmarked grave for almost a decade.
When our family finally received my father’s remains we had to reassemble his skeleton with our own hands before giving him a dignified burial. To this day the Nigerian government has not granted him an official pardon. It speaks volumes about our so-called democracy.
No government can call itself civilised or claim any moral authority while it refuses to exonerate these innocent men. Black lives will matter outside of Africa only when they matter in Africa itself. #pardonkensarowiwa #pardontheogoni9”
Watch the moment Ken Saro-Wiwa was sentenced to death in court below,
