Nobel Laureate Professor Wole Soyinka has urged President Bola Tinubu to take decisive action to end all forms of killings linked to state actors, warning that public silence has continued to worsen the situation.
Soyinka made the call while dedicating his 2026 public lecture to victims of extrajudicial killings and state abuses. He said Nigeria’s biggest failure lies not only in the loss of lives but also in the collective silence that enables perpetrators to escape accountability.
Speaking at the 28th Wole Soyinka Lectures held in Port Harcourt, themed “Reclaiming the Nigerian State through Accountability, Justice and Civic Courage,” the literary icon said the inaction of citizens in the face of state excesses encourages further human rights violations.
He explained that his remarks were in honour of those who had lost their lives due to failures of the state, which, he said, had contributed to the erosion of the value placed on human life.
Soyinka said: “Today is dedicated to the 18 Ughelli residents butchered by state agencies for no reason at all, simply for minding their own business; to the young man shot dead in broad daylight by a policeman while under suspicion; and to Deborah, the youth hunted through the city by her own classmates, necklaced and set ablaze.
“The crime is the silence of the rest of us, that such a thing is possible and that the killers of that girl can actually go on television, hold up a match and say, ‘This is the match with which I set her on fire.’ And there the system of justice fails us completely.”
The Nobel laureate also rejected claims that his advocacy against abuses fuels religious tensions, stressing that gatherings such as the Port Harcourt lecture are necessary to remind Nigerians that humanity remains the foundation of society.
He urged citizens to continue monitoring the case of the policeman accused of shooting a young man in the South and to demand that the justice system deliver accountability.
In his keynote address, former Minister of Aviation, Chief Osita Chidoka, said justice for many Nigerians begins long before a matter reaches the courtroom.
According to Chidoka, justice starts when security officials determine whether complaints are treated fairly based on their merits rather than external influences.
