Twenty years ago, on November 10, 1995, internationally renowned author and human rights and environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni men were hanged in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Arrested and held for months without charges, tortured while under detention, and sentenced to death by a “Special Tribunal” convened in violation of international law.  They were executed for their peaceful efforts to defend the indigenous Ogoni people of Nigeria from human rights and environment abuses caused by oil extraction activities of Shell Nigeria. For his relentless commitment, Ken Saro-Wiwa was awarded the 1995 Goldman Environmental Prize.

To this day, despite facts that tie Shell to his murder and to the continuing abuse of the Ogoni people, Shell still denies culpability and continues to drill for oil in Nigeria.

EarthRights International stands in solidarity with activists and environmental defenders around the world in commemorating Ken Saro Wiwa on this date.