released when my husband went on hunger strike. People in my village were also out protesting, saying ‘release her, release her’. After his trial took place, I started taking him food again. One day, a soldier stopped me and said, ‘They’ve taken him this way.’ He directed me to a prison yard. As we approached the yard, the military gave me a sign. My friend knew what it meant and said, ‘They have killed them.’
I collapsed and screamed. I didn’t expect the government to kill my husband like that. They didn’t even send for me before his execution. Before he faced the gallows, his last message was: ‘Tell my wife I love her.’
After your husband’s execution, you and your family ended up in a refugee camp in Benin, where you encountered Amnesty for the first time…
It was hard after his death. My children couldn’t go to school. It wasn’t safe. However,
22 AMNESTY SPRING 2026
I was lucky enough to meet Amnesty International at the refugee camp. They gave us hope. They gave us a new life. There are people who do not have a voice and need someone to be there for them. With the support of Amnesty, my family and I eventually moved to America.
You’ve taken Shell to court in the USA and the Netherlands (where a judge ruled in 2022 there was insufficient evidence to prove that the company had been involved in the executions of the Ogoni Nine). What’s given you the strength to take on a corporate giant?
I’m still here looking for justice. Before when I told this story, I would be crying – now I’m strong. If I keep crying, I’m not going to get justice, as people won’t be able to hear what I’m saying. So now I’m strong.
Amnesty has helped me, motivated me, pushed me so that I don’t know where my
PHOTO
Oil pollution in the Niger Delta has ravaged the health and livelihoods of many of the 30 milllion people living in the region © Stefan Heunis/ AFP via Getty Images
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