He insisted that communities producing the oil that sustains Nigeria’s economy deserve to live comfortably with all basic amenities provided, not in poverty and neglect.

Human Rights Lawyer, Femi Falana, has said that he would convene a team of lawyers to commence a legal onslaught against oil companies that have polluted and abandoned their host communities in the Niger Delta.

He insisted that communities producing the oil that sustains Nigeria’s economy deserve to live comfortably with all basic amenities provided, not in poverty and neglect.

Falana made this known in Port Harcourt during the Ken Saro-Wiwa 30th Memorial Lecture, organised by a coalition of environmental civil society leaders on Friday.

The event, put together by a coalition of environmental activists, was held in honour of the 84th posthumous birthday of late environmental and human-rights activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa, who was executed alongside eight others 30 years ago for alleged treasonable felony and recently granted state pardon and honours.

The gathering drew activists, policymakers, and community leaders who renewed calls for environmental justice in the Niger Delta.

While giving his keynote speech, Falana noted that multinational oil companies have profited from Nigeria’s natural resources while leaving host communities in the Niger Delta impoverished and devastated, vowing to take legal steps to compel them to do the right thing.

He also alleged that the trial and execution of the Ogoni Nine were not acts of justice but tools of state coercion.

Other speakers at the memorial, including Nnimmo Bassey, urged government agencies to hold defaulting oil firms accountable and prioritise a full cleanup of Ogoniland.

For civil society groups, the legacy of Ken Saro-Wiwa remains a rallying point for justice and environmental restoration across the Niger Delta.

They warned that anything short of calling for a halt to oil resumption talks in Ogoniland without extensive cleanup would amount to wasting the sacrifice of Ken Saro-Wiwa and his comrades. (Channels)