31 years after, families of Ogoni four demand remains for proper burial

By Daniel Abia, Port Harcourt

Thirty-one years after the gruesome murder of four Ogoni chiefs in Giokoo community, Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State, their families have renewed calls for the recovery of the late leaders’ remains for proper burial and lasting reconciliation.

The slain Ogoni leaders are Chief Edward Kobani, Mr. Albert Badey, Chief Theophilus Orage, and Chief Samuel Orage.

Their murder in 1994 led to the arrest, trial, and subsequent execution by hanging of playwright and environmental rights activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa, and eight others—known as the Ogoni Nine—on November 10, 1995, under the military regime of General Sani Abacha.

Speaking at a press conference in Bodo, Gokana LGA, Kenneth Kobani, son of the late Chief Kobani and former Minister of State for Trade and Industry, described the continued denial of the facts surrounding the killings as “an insult taken too far.”

“It’s been 31 years since my father and three others were brutally murdered at Giokoo by Gokana people,” he said. “We had every reason to seek revenge, but we chose forgiveness over anger because our real strength lies in how we rise above what happened.”

Kobani decried attempts by some individuals and groups to distort the historical truth, stressing that the killings occurred in broad daylight and that the perpetrators were well known.

“Every year, we are told they’re celebrating the Ogoni Nine as heroes, and some people even claim that those who murdered our fathers didn’t commit the crime. This event wasn’t hidden; they didn’t cover their faces. Yet, we chose peace and reconciliation because we want Ogoni to move forward,” he added.

He condemned what he described as a “macabre dance” by individuals attempting to lay wreaths on empty tombs of the slain leaders, calling it “a mockery of their memory.”

“You want to lay wreaths where there are no remains? That’s an insult too far. We buried empty caskets. Our fathers were murdered, and their remains were never returned. How would anyone feel burying an empty coffin?” Kobani asked.

He thanked President Bola Tinubu for granting posthumous national honours to the Ogoni Four and for his ongoing peace efforts in Ogoniland, but accused the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) of failing to honour the reconciliation terms agreed upon at the Justice Oputa Panel.

“The Oputa Commission resolved that there should be no beautifying of one group and villainizing of another. Unfortunately, subsequent MOSOP leaders have forgotten those resolutions,” he said.

In a statement, the Secretary of the Gokana Unity Forum, Dr. Chris Barigbon, reaffirmed the call for the immediate release of the remains of the Ogoni Four to their families.

“This is over three decades after the gruesome murder of Chief E.N. Kobani, A.T. Badey, T.B. Orage, and S.N. Orage,” the statement read. “We call on MOSOP to recover and release their remains for dignified burial and render a public apology to their families.”

The forum commended President Tinubu for his “unrelenting effort toward peace and reconciliation in Ogoni,” but criticized MOSOP’s “deviance, lack of empathy, and continuous denial of the families’ pain.”

“Such grave disregard, even in death, amounts to a second and third murder of the martyrs,” the forum said, warning that attempts to lay wreaths on unfound graves were “hypocritical and provocative.”

The Paramount Ruler of Bodo City, HRH King Johnr Berebon, also called for closure, insisting that true reconciliation must begin with the “safe return of the remains of our fallen heroes.”

“Healing the wounds of the past necessitates the safe return of their remains for proper burial. This will pave the way for reintegration and true reconciliation in the spirit of peace, forgiveness, and love,” the monarch stated.

Berebon, who spoke through the Chairman of the Bodo Council of Chiefs and Elders, Chief Polycarp Kornom, urged all Ogoni stakeholders to set aside bitterness and embrace unity, stressing that the events of the past should serve as lessons for future generations.

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