Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, November 11, 1995 TAG: 9511130036
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LAGOS, NIGERIA LENGTH: Medium
International reaction was swift and angry. The United States recalled its ambassador from Nigeria and imposed travel restrictions. Representatives of the 52-nation Commonwealth of Britain and its former colonies were holding an emergency meeting Saturday to decide whether to expel Nigeria from the group.
President Nelson Mandela of South Africa and British Prime Minister John Major demanded Nigeria's expulsion, and diplomats said that was almost certain to happen.
Saro-Wiwa, 54, was convicted in the deaths of four men during a May 1994 political rally.
He maintained that he was framed because of his opposition to the military regime of Gen. Sani Abacha and to the oil industry that earns 80 percent of Nigeria's export income.
``This heinous act by the Nigerian authorities flies in the face of appeals by the world community for a stay of execution,'' Mandela said in Auckland, New Zealand, where Commonwealth leaders were meeting.
A member of the Ogoni tribe, Saro-Wiwa campaigned on behalf of the 500,000 Ogoni who live in Nigeria's oil-rich south and say their land and water are being destroyed by oil industry pollution.
A recent nominee for a Nobel Peace Prize, Saro-Wiwa received Sweden's $250,000 Right Livelihood Award last year, and the Goldman Prize from a San Francisco foundation this year, recognizing him as one of Africa's leading environmentalists.
He wrote plays, children's books and two novels critical of the military government - ``Sozaboy,'' the story of a cab driver who finds himself in the army, and ``Prisoner of Jebs,'' which poked fun at the ruling elite.
A tribunal in the southern Nigerian oil city of Port Harcourt convicted Saro-Wiwa and the other eight men, all Ogonis, of murder on Oct. 31. The ruling military council upheld the death sentences Wednesday.
The mens' wives tried to bring them a meal late Thursday but were turned away.
``Oh God, what am I going to do? He is the only thing I have in the whole world,'' sobbed Hauwa Saro-Wiwa, the playwright's wife.
The men were executed at about 11:30 a.m. and taken for burial inside the Port Harcourt cemetery, which was surrounded by armed soldiers and tanks. The junta announced the executions eight hours later, and released no details.
Lagos and Abuja, Nigeria's federal capital, both were calm. Port Harcourt was beefed up with soldiers and tanks, but it was too early to tell whether demonstrations would be held.
The Clinton administration and the 15-nation European Union both said they were planning to review ties with Nigeria. The Ogoni Community Association, based in Britain, urged the United Nations to expel its military government.
At the United Nations, Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali said he was ``shocked and appalled'' to learn of the execution.
The environmental group Greenpeace said Saro-Wiwa's ``blood will permanently stain the name of Shell,'' the oil company accused of despoiling the Ogoni territory.
by CNB