A New York court last week rejected the request by the Shell oil company to declare as illegal the Ogoni petition filed against it in 1996. The petition -- filed by Ken Wiwa, the son of environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa -- was publicly executed by General Abacha’s regime in 1995. It accuses Shell of devastating the environment in Ogoniland and collaborating with the Nigerian regime in the persecution of Ogoni leaders.
