Bennett Birabi, the former senator, has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s decision to honour the Ogoni Nine during the Democracy Day celebrations on June 12.
On June 12, Tinubu conferred national honours and granted a
full state pardon to Ken Saro-Wiwa and the eight other members of the Ogoni
Nine, nearly three decades after their execution under the military regime of
Sani Abacha.
In an interview on Arise Television on Tuesday, Birabi said
the Ogoni nine were not martyrs but “killers” who exploited the poverty of the
people.
“I think the president was being misled and misadvised. What
Ogoni needs is not recognition of killers,” he said.
He said the individuals honoured were responsible for
violence in the region and were well known to the community.
“The people who did the killing did not wear masks, so they
were all known and seen by our people, and they were no strangers,” he added.
“For you to wake up and say they are martyrs, martyrs are
people who fought for their people and died for a cause.
“What was the cause they fought and died for? The same cause
that we established MOSOP for was the same cause these people were fighting
for.”
He also recounted personal experiences of intimidation
linked to the conflict.
“For me personally, he (Saro-Wiwa) called a meeting in my
village and got all the youths in my village and said that unless and until
Ibirabi is no longer there, nobody in this village can make progress. He didn’t
tell them to kill me, but that was enough,” he said.
Birabi said Saro-Wiwa was not physically present at the
scene of the murders and could only be charged with manslaughter or
instigation.
“That wasn’t persecution. The Ogoni 9 were properly accused
because they were seen and known. The only person I tried to bargain for and I
did my best but it did not work was Saro-Wiwa himself,” he said.
“He was not physically present at the scene of murder, so at
best he could have been charged for manslaughter or for instigating the murder.
“Despite reaching out to the Emir of Kano to see whether he
could prevail on Abacha to at least exclude him, it did not work. But of the
people who supervised the killing are people receiving awards today.”
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