The Bodo Community in Gokana local government area of Rivers State has demanded the remains of four prominent chiefs of the area murdered in 1994 by suspected Ogoni youths.

The community at a media conference to commemorate 31 years of their death, accused the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), of being responsible for their deaths.

The killing of Chief Edward Kobani, Mr. Albert Baddey, Chief Theophilus Orage and Chief Samuel Orage popularly referred to as the Ogoni four in 1994 at Giokoo community in Gokana, led to the arrest and subsequent hanging of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni elites by the General Sani Abacha military junta in 1995.

Speaking on behalf of the community, Secretary of Bodo Unity Forum, Dr. Chris Barigbon, accused MOSOP of stoking violent struggle and inciting Ogoni youths against the four Gokana elites, leading to their murder.

They also accused MOSOP of refusing to honour an agreement reached at the Justice Chukwudifu Oputa Panel in 2001 on modalities for the resolution of the crisis and recovery of the bodies.

He said after 31 years, the community now wanted the remains of the Gokana elites for proper burial, stressing that recovering the remains of the Ogoni four would help to heal the families faster.

?We are deeply saddened by MOSOP?s deviance, lack of empathy and continuous denial of the reality of the cries of the families of the Ogoni 4. While time is a natural healer, the scars are indelible, so are the griefs of these families.

?Only a genuine reconciliation consolidated on truth, remorsefulness and forgiveness can attenuate the griefs of these families, their communities and the Gokana people.

?Astonishingly, this is over three decades after the Ogoni gory incidences in the struggle for environmental justice which have left an indelible mark on Nigeria?s history; and 21 years, after the signing of Terms of Reconciliation midwifed by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission otherwise called the Justice Oputa Panel on January, 31? 2001 with the consents of all principal parties, families of the Ogoni 4, Ogoni 9, MOSOP and other stakeholders in the Ogoni struggle.

?To our chagrin, MOSOP had continued to renege on effectuating its part of the TOR particularly on Clause 3, which demands from it, the release of the remains of the bodies of the Ogoni 13 to their families for proper burial. While the remains of the Ogoni 9 were released, we are yet to receive those of the Ogoni 4.?

The community, therefore demanded that the leadership of MOSOP should close ranks with relevant stakeholders and immediately recover and release the remains of the four Gokana elites to their families for dignified burial.

They also called on MOSOP to render an unreserved public apology to the families of the Ogoni 4 for the Giokoo Massacre.

Amnesty International Insists on Justice for Executed Ogoni Activists

Meanwhile, Amnesty International, has insisted that the Nigerian government must clear the names of the eight Ogoni Rights activists, who were killed while demanding environmental rights of the Ogoni oil polluted environment in 1995.

Country Director, AI, Isa Sanusi made the call during a roundtable conversation on the state of oil producing areas in Nigeria, held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, yesterday.

The event also explored the ongoing human rights and environmental challenges emerging from the Niger Delta region, as the region marks 30 years after execution of the Ogoni Nine.

Speaking with journalists earlier during a rally to commemorate 30 years of the unlawful killing of the Ogoni activists, at the Isaac Boro axis Port Harcourt, Sanusi regretted that the injustice melted to the Niger Delta people continue to subsists despite regular changes of government.

?We gathered today to remember the Ogoni Nine who were brutally killed or executed 30 years ago, because they were trying to protect their people, protect their environment, and address the excesses of the oil companies which operates in Ogoniland.

?We believe that even if the federal government has given the pardon, they should be completely exonerated and that is the only way to go. We are here to remember the injustice that were done to them, celebrate them also.

?The injustice that is continuously being done to the people of the Niger Delta, especially Ogoniland which is still devastated, contaminated as a result of oil exploration, we believe that justice has to be done. Human rights of the people of the people who live around the region has to be protected.?

In his remarks during the roundtable conversation, the Amnesty boss in Nigeria, noted that the Ogoni Nine?s protest in 1995 brought global attention to the devastating cost of the fossil fuel industry on the climate, people?s lives, the environment, and continued poverty in oil producing areas.

According to him, ?In June 2025, the Nigerian government pardoned the Ogoni Nine. While Amnesty international welcomed the news, it falls short of the justice the Ogoni Nine and their families deserve.? (THISDAY)

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