On November 10, 1995, the military regime of General Sani Abacha executed nine Ogoni leaders by hanging at Port Harcourt Prisons.
The nine were: Ken Saro-Wiwa, Barinem Kiobel, John Kpuinen, Baribor Bera, Felix Nuate, Paul Levura, Daniel Gbokoo, Saturday Dobee and Nordu Eawo.
They were leaders of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), founded by Saro-Wiwa in 1990 to protest oil pollution, gas flaring and exploitation of Ogoniland by Shell Petroleum Development Company.
The Ogoni Nine were arrested after the murder of four pro-government Ogoni chiefs — Edward Kobani, Albert Badey, Samuel Orage and Theophilus Orage — on May 21, 1994, at Giokoo, in Gokana Local Government Area.
They were tried by a special military tribunal — the Ogoni Civil Disturbances Tribunal — on charges of incitement to murder.
On October 31, 1995, the tribunal found them guilty and sentenced them to death. General Abacha confirmed the sentence on November 8, 1995, despite global appeals for clemency.
Two days later, they were hanged.
The United Nations, the European Union, the United States, and human rights organisations condemned the trial as unfair and politically motivated.
Nigeria was immediately suspended from the Commonwealth of Nations, a suspension that lasted for three years. The country became an international pariah under Abacha.
