Keypoints:
- London vigil marks 30 years since executions
- Campaigners renew calls for oil justice in Nigeria
- Shell faces new court battle in 2027
PERFORMANCE artist the Crude Madonna took centre stage at a candlelit vigil outside the London headquarters of Shell this week to mark the hangings of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight fellow Nigerian environmental campaigners 30 years ago.
After a solemn 30-minute silence in remembrance of the activists — executed after leading anti-Shell protests in Ogoniland, southeast Nigeria — the veiled figure performed a ritual libation in her ‘Acid Garden’. Members of Extinction Rebellion, dressed in blood-red robes and with their faces painted white, gestured silently towards the Shell building.
Among those attending were representatives of Amnesty International, Christian Climate Action and the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (Mosop). Justice 4 Nigeria’s Caroline Dennett, a former Shell consultant turned whistle-blower, presided over the event, which included poetry readings and a prayer.
‘The Crude Madonna unites the languages of ritual, justice, and artistry to create a living memorial for those who died defending their environment — and a mandate for those who live to protect it,’ explained Winifred Adeyemi of Africa: Seen & Heard, which helped organise the event. ‘As global temperatures rise, oil fields burn and mangroves die, Saro-Wiwa’s words become undeniable: “The environment is man’s first right”.’
Global acts of remembrance
The London vigil was one of several events worldwide marking the anniversary. In Ogoniland, a three-day commemoration at Mosop headquarters in Bori featured talks, panel discussions and film screenings. Maymouth University in Ireland hosted an exhibition, while Saro-Wiwa’s daughter, Noo, spoke during a webinar and screening of Shell Shocked Land, organised by the Health of Mother Earth Foundation and Oil Change International.
The film was also shown at a press gathering in Lagos, attended by Blessing Eawo, widow of one of the executed men, Nordu.
‘Apart from remembering those who sacrificed their lives in the cause of environmental justice, I want people to reflect on what we have achieved in the struggle and what we still have to do to achieve our goal of self-determination and control of our natural resources,’ said Mosop leader Lazarus Tamana. ‘Ken Saro-Wiwa’s voice was never silenced. Thirty years on, we are still here, still resisting, still demanding justice.’
Decades of legal battles with Shell
The hangings on November 10, 1995, caused an international outcry, leading to Nigeria’s suspension from the Commonwealth and sparking a long legal battle with Shell over compensation for the victims’ families and communities affected by oil pollution. The latest case is scheduled for trial in London in 2027.
In 2011, a United Nations environment agency investigation found dangerous levels of carcinogens in Ogoniland’s drinking water. Although it ordered a comprehensive clean-up, the process has been mired in controversy and has so far proved ineffective.
Ogoniland’s unresolved future
Saro-Wiwa, a popular Nigerian author and broadcaster, founded Mosop 35 years ago to campaign against the contamination of fisheries and farmlands caused by oil spills and gas flaring in Ogoniland — a small kingdom in the Niger Delta where Shell began drilling in the 1950s. Beyond health damage, Ogonis were impoverished by the loss of their two main livelihoods.
The movement formed part of a wider campaign against both the Nigerian government and oil multinationals. In 1993, Shell was forced to pull out of Ogoniland after a wave of peaceful protests. However, the ‘Ogoni Nine’ were later arrested and executed. Then UK prime minister John Major denounced their trial as ‘fraudulent … followed by judicial murder’.
As part of a recent charm offensive, the Nigerian government pardoned the Ogoni Nine earlier this year and opened talks with prominent Ogoni figures, including Joi Nunieh, a former managing director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, about restarting oil production in the region.
But this remains firmly opposed by Mosop and other environmental groups. ‘The current government is in a hurry to start oil resumption, but it is only in the interests of the elites and big business — ordinary Ogonis do not have any voice in this,’ said Tamana.
