Stand with Ogoni Peoples on the upcoming 30th Anniversary of Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni Nine: “No Justice on Pundered Lands!”

PRESS RELEASE
September 23, 2025 – The International Indigenous Peoples Movement for Self-Determination and Liberation (IPMSDL) stands in solidarity with the Indigenous Ogoni peoples and their allies across the globe in launching this year’s commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the martyrdom of Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni Nine. Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni Nine were brutally executed on November 10, 1995, by Nigeria’s military dictatorship in collusion with corporate oil giant Shell.
The Ogoni Nine were executed for demanding justice, dignity, and the right of the Ogoni people to live free from ecological destruction in their own lands. Through the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), Ken Saro-Wiwa together with Ogoni leaders gave voice to the cries of peoples whose rivers had been poisoned, farmlands had been rendered barren, and air had been choked by incessant gas flaring.
Their demands were clear and just: self-determination, environmental remediation, and economic justice. But their courage and clarity threatened the powerful nexus of oil corporations and the Nigerian state. Their murder exposed the depths of imperialist corporate greed and state repression, transforming the Ogoni struggle into a symbol of Indigenous Peoples resistance against ecological plunder.
Three decades later, justice remains elusive. In 2011, the United Nations Environmental Programe (UNEP) confirmed catastrophic levels of oil pollution in Ogoniland, with carcinogens in drinking water recorded at 900 times above safe standards.
Yet cleanup efforts are at a glacial pace, the Nigerian government has failed to contribute, and Shell continues to evade full accountability. Instead of ensuring justice, President Bola Tinubu is now pushing for the resumption of oil exploration in Ogoniland, ignoring UNEP’s findings, court rulings, and Ogoni people’s clear rejection.
“This clean-up must be scientific, transparent and independently monitored with local communities fully involved… Anything less is an insult to the memory of those who died demanding justice, and a continuation of the very injustice that Ken Saro-Wiwa fought and died for. It will be a dance on the grave of Ken Saro-Wiwa,” said Celestine Akpobari of Miideekor Environmental Development Initiative and Ogoni Solidarity Forum – Nigeria during the launching’s press conference.
“Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni Nine gave their lives to demand justice. They are our inspiration in the annual IP Heroes Day celebration lead by IPMSDL every November 10. Their blood waters, our self-determination struggle,” said Beverly Longid, IPMSDL Co-convener. “Thirty years later, the Niger Delta is still bleeding. The Ogoni people are still fighting the battle against imperialist and corporate greed and state repression. As Indigenous Peoples, we clearly say no more poisoned river, not one more stolen land, life and future.”
The 30th anniversary commemoration coincides with the upcoming COP30 in Brazil, offering a crucial moment to connect the Ogoni struggle with the broader global climate movement. For IPMSDL, the story of Ogoniland exposes the limits of climate summits dominated by corporations, business lobbyists, and state elites. Thus, it underscores the urgency of highlighting “Self-Determination is a Climate Solution” not only during COP but more so in the everyday fight of Ingenous Peoples against the climate and ecological crisis. The Ogoni case is a stark reminder that climate justice cannot be achieved without Indigenous Peoples’ justice for all those killed, criminalized, communities militarized and bombed in defense of their lands, territories, and resources.
“Ogoni land shows us what happens when Indigenous Peoples are denied self-determination. Corporations treat our lands as sacrifice zones, our people as disposable, our future as collateral damage,” said Jiten Yumnam, IPMSDL Co-convener. “The climate crisis is rooted in colonialism and corporate plunder using violence and fascism, militarization and wars. Our solution is self-determination because only free peoples living in genuine peace can protect their lands, defend their rivers, and safeguard the planet.”
As governments and corporations converge in Brazil for COP30, IPMSDL joins the call for international solidarity with the Ogoni people. Around the world, movements must rise to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni Nine, and all Indigenous Peoples martyrs and heroes.
This is not only about Ogoni; it is about defending the right of all Indigenous Peoples to determine their future, to live in clean and healthy environments, and to resist the imperialism that causes and worsen the climate crisis.