A prominent environmentalist and former delegate of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP) at the United Nations, John Idamkue, has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to take urgent action to end decades of bloodshed and injustice suffered by the Ogoni people in the Niger Delta.
Idamkue, a public policy consultant and former trusted aide to the late Ken Saro-Wiwa, issued the appeal in a statement released from Port Harcourt on Sunday, November 10, 2025, coinciding with the 30th anniversary of Saro-Wiwa’s execution.
He urged the President to “wipe the tears of the Ogoni people and end the bloodshed in the Niger Delta,” noting that the Tinubu-led Ogoni Dialogue Committee must prioritize mitigation of harm and injustice inflicted on victims of past military repression in Ogoni.
Idamkue expressed concern that successive Nigerian governments have neglected the Ogoni ethnic nationality and failed to address the issues championed by Saro-Wiwa and MOSOP.
He called for comprehensive measures including psychological evaluation and counselling of victims, rebuilding of destroyed homes and villages, compensation for lost livelihoods, and environmental remediation of polluted sites.
He further highlighted that beyond the deaths of the Ogoni Four and the Ogoni Nine, more than 4,000 Ogoni people have lost their lives in the struggle for environmental justice, with no one held accountable.
“In the wake of the killing of the Ogoni Four and the hanging of the Ogoni Nine, Col. Dauda Komo deployed hundreds of troops and the Internal Security Task Force, who terrorized our people, raped women, and engaged in cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment,” Idamkue said. “No one has been held accountable for these crimes against the Ogoni people.”
He emphasized that the Ogoni struggle contributed significantly to Nigeria’s broader pro-democracy movement against the late General Sani Abacha’s dictatorship. Idamkue noted that the activism of the Ogoni people served as a rallying point for democratic efforts both in Nigeria and abroad, a fact acknowledged by President Tinubu in multiple public statements.
Idamkue also cited key policy initiatives as outcomes of the Ogoni struggle, including the Niger Delta Development Commission, the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project, the increase of derivation principle from 3% to 13%, the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) report, and the Petroleum Industry Act 2021. He said these measures were primarily attributable to the sacrifices and struggles of the Ogoni people.
“We will not forget the suffering, hardship, environmental pollution, and human rights violations inflicted on the Ogoni people by successive Nigerian governments and transnational oil companies,” he said, referencing reports from the United Nations, Justice Oputa Panel, UNEP, Civil Liberties Organization, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Greenpeace, and PEN-WEST USA.
Idamkue described Saro-Wiwa as a patriot whose leadership inspired environmental consciousness and reminded Nigerians of the historical events that led to the executions of the Ogoni Four and Ogoni Nine in 1995, following the 1994 killings of four Ogoni elders in Giokoo community, Gokana Local Government Area.
He stressed that the Ogoni people have continued to advocate for environmental justice, infrastructural development, and fair resource allocation; the causes championed by Saro-Wiwa long before oil exploration fully resumed in their land. “The bloodshed and injustice against the Ogoni people must end,” Idamkue said. “It is time for the federal government to act decisively to restore justice, peace, and dignity to Ogoniland.”
