-INTRODUCTION What if I tell you that General SANINEGERIA MOHAMMED ABACHA, the most popular Kanuri person in the world was regarded as the most
patient man on earth? My Mum, the Ogidi herself never forgets her airport encounter with him, she was thoroughly stupefied at his height. It was
fifteen years ago. A man of diminutive stature (5ft, 6inches). A man of fire, iron and steel, the General lorded absolute power and unbridled authority over 120 million souls.
Not even Generals dare cross his path. Those who did, knelt and wept before him while he offered them tissue paper to wipe their salty tears. Not even a plea from the Pope could melt his heart. Mandela begged him to no avail. No one messed with Abacha. He was gentle. Listening. Cunning. Daring. Attentive. Dangerous. Brave. Brutal. When an American ambassador was irritating the late maximum tyrant, he almost paid with his life. But who was SANI ABACHA, Nigeria’s most enigmatic ruler, and the first head of state to die in office without violence (a man of many firsts as you will soon see)? Why and how he almost blew General Diya out of existence? Why his last son was shot in 2011? His links with America’s most secretive Christian group, Boko Haram and Imam Abubakar Shekau, its leader and Nigeria’s most wanted man? And many more…
Known for his beautiful handwriting, . Known to many as an incorrigible kleptomaniac who will stop at nothing to succeed himself in power, the rise and fall of the dictator and lawn tennis lover whom IBB called the Khalifa. When IBB was leaving the ‘throne’, he retired all the service chiefs with the exception of this man: Sani Abacha (in 1989, IBB cut the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council, AFRC from 28 to 19 members, Abacha was one of the survivors and IBB would later make him the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff the same year). Adjust your chair, stretch your legs and let’s learn more about the gripping story of a soldier of audacious strategies who proudly bore his Kanuri tribal marks beneath the darkest of goggles.

EARLY DAYS & SCHOOLING

Unlike other leaders who had ‘humble’ backgrounds, Abacha was not born into squalid poverty. As a matter of fact, his was a prosperous family with his father owning a successful trucking business in Kano State, while two of his brothers also later had their own businesses. The family which migrated to Kano in search of greener pastures, also had a bakery they named ‘Canteen Abacha’. -A Kanuri man (Abacha is NOT Hausa or Fulani, that is quite important as some people tend to lump the entire north together as ‘Hausa-Fulani’ bloc, Hausa is not Fulani and vice versa), he was born in Borno State on a Monday, the 20th September, 1943, grew up in Kano and blended so well that he lies in the soil of the ancient city after he gave up the ghost on another Monday half a century later. His father was positioning him to take over the family’s bread baking business and he ensured he got a good education so as to stem the tide of illiteracy in the family although young Sani would be notorious for his truancy rather than astronomical academic wizardry. At about the same time, the late Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello, was promoting a ‘northernization’ campaign which saw the influx of many eager and enthusiastic lads into the military and other institutions. One of them was a Kanuri boy. Sani.
-City Senior Primary School, Kano. -Kano Provincial Secondary School (finished in 1957). -Government College, Kano (1957-1962), now called Rumfa College. -Nigerian Military Training College (NMTC) (now called the Nigerian Defence Academy, NDA), Zaria, Kaduna State (1962-1963). -Mons Defence Officers Cadet Training College, Aldershot, England. -General Sani Abacha also had further training: -School of Infantry, Warminster, UK (1966, 1971) -Command and Staff College, Jaji, Kaduna State (1976) -National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, Jos (1981) -Senior International Defence Management Course (SIDMC), Monterey, California (1982).

While a student his academic exploits become murky as some reports indicate that the former Nigerian ruler did not graduate from high school before proceeding to NMTC. The intellectual height and the depth of Abacha’s sagacity is a subject of intense debate with colleagues like General Olusegun Obasanjo dismissing him a dull personality, an ‘expendable brute not expected to rise beyond the rank of a warrant officer.’ Some even cited his not attending Sandhurst Royal Military Academy as evidence of an intrinsic lack of intelligence. But Abacha had a way of stupefying his opponents and those who underestimated him. He eventually became the Commander-in-Chief of the world’s most populous black nation. That doesn’t sound like what a stupid dimwit can achieve.

CAREER & COUPS
Here is an overview of Abacha’s rise through the ranks in the Nigerian Army: -Commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant: 1963 -Lieutenant: 1966 -Captain: 1967 -Platoon and Battalion Commander, Training Department, Commander, 2nd Infantry Division, Major: 1969 -Lieutenant Colonel: 1972 -Commanding Officer, 2nd Infantry Brigade, Colonel: 1975 -Brigadier: 1980
As a Major-General. -Major-General: 1984 -General Officer Commanding (GOC), 2nd Mechanized Division: 1984-85
With the rank of a Major General of the Nigerian Army.
-Chief of Army Staff: 1985 -Member, Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC): 1985 -Lieutenant-General: 1987 -Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff: 1989
-Minister of Defence: 1990 -Secretary of Defence: 26th August, 1993 -Head of State & Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces: 17th November 1993
He was the Chairman of the Provisional Ruling Council, Nigerian military leader and politician who lead Nigeria under military regime from 20 September 1993 – Abuja, 8 June 1998. There is virtually no coup in Nigeria that Abacha did not have an input or involvement. He took active part in the bloody but successful countercoup (Operation Aure) of July 1966 organized by northern military officers and was also believed to be one of the participants the January 1966 coups with him taking part in either the Lagos or Abeokuta phases of the saga although the extent of his role is not too lucid. When Shagari with the skyscraper cap was shoved aside, Abacha was one of the masterminds. By the time Buhari was also ‘axed’ and ‘exed’, Abacha was one of the planners. He operated silently, stealthily and steadily until 1993, when he took over the reins of power himself in a dramatic and action-packed palace coup.
To be continued

Like every other dictator, Abacha also had his own moments of paranoia. At a time, he became a virtual recluse, refusing to grant any interviews, appear in public or allow any publications about him and became nocturnal, working only at nights. On the 17th of November, 1993, at around 10.am, three generals: Abacha, Oladipo Donaldson Diya and Aliyu Gusau stormed the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Nigeria’s most fortified complex. They were followed by army trucks full of heavily-armed soldiers. The soldiers were under the control of Brigadier Bashir Magashi of the Brigade of Guards and Colonel Lawan Gwadabe of the National Guard. The three ‘guys’ then calmed but smartly strolled into the fortress with the swagger of an Alexander the Great and settled down for a ‘private meeting’ with Chief Ernest Shonekan who jejely agreed to vacate the position since it was very clear he was in no position to command any troops. Here was his own chief of defence staff telling him to surrender and a court just declared the interim government illegal.
Shonekan bowed to their pressure and they treated him like a gentleman: he was allowed to give a farewell speech. After that, he was on the next flight to Lagos. Shonekan’s reign remains the shortest in Nigerian history: 82 days. Watch the video of Abacha giving his first broadcast as head of state here, the night he overthrew Shonekan in a palace coup: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=q
-Once he took the reins of power on the 17th of November 1993, Abacha announced to the dazed nation that Shonekan had resigned and that he has graciously accepted his resignation and dutifully taken over so as to prevent the country from drifting further into collapse. He then let the whole nation realize he was in for serious business and his choice of words meant Nigerians were in big yawa, and not before long, the yawa kukuma gas. He had no illusions to being popular and was out to please no one. He made it abundantly clear that if you step on a scorpion’s tail, you will limp home.
Beneath the dark goggles, he played his cards close to his heart, and no one could decipher what was on his mind.
-Abacha overthrew the fidihe (interim) government of Chief Ernest Shonekan in a palace coup that was received with mixed feelings. A section of the populace feared the dangerous trend of a new coup and this included the 67 federal senators who wrote a letter to Nigerians urging them not to accept another dictatorial regime. Some others, wanted to give General Sani the benefit of the doubt, hoping that he would just stabilize the political condition and hand over to MKO. Even Abiola himself believed this and was deceived by Abacha’s promise to just set up a ‘provisional’ ruling council and that he would not stay long in office. #Daaah! #Yinmu! MKO was too trusting and he was eventually stabbed in the back.
In a book written by Chief Ebenezer Babatope, Abiola knew of and approved Abacha’s overthrow of Shonekan from the very beginning. Bashorun underestimated the man from Borno (JUST AS THE WEST IS UNDERESTIMATING GMB – time shall tell) who would later pull the rug from under his feet and remove the wool from his eyes. Abiola ‘thinks that Abacha will not last up till a year and that his end will be ignonimous.’ But it was too late by the time MKO realized Abacha’s real game of power. Damn too late! Abiola thought there was an agreement but man proposes and God is the best Disposer of affairs.
Abacha commanded so much authority and there was absolutely no doubt about who the Boss was. Abiola made another disastrous move: members of his party, the SDP tocked’s Abacha’s first cabinet: Ebenezer Babatope (Osun), Lateef Jakande (Lagos), Abubakar Rimi, Jerry Gana, Iyorchia Ayu, Solomon Lar (Plateau), Silas Daniyan (Kogi), Mrs. Bola Osomo (Ondo), Tunji Adebayo (Kwara) and others. That step nailed Abiola’s political coffin.
-Abacha then proceeded to assume the title of the Nigerian Head of State, renamed IBB’s Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) and formed the 27-member Provisional Ruling Council (PRC, the word ‘provisional’ was used to give an illusion of him staying temporarily in power but his actions would hint at a more sinister agenda). He immediately annulled the 1989 Constitution, which was supposed to be activated with the elected President. He thundered that there were no ‘sacred cows’ in his government and had no sleepless nights jailing a former head of state and his deputy.
-He even did what was long considered unthinkable: he dethroned the 18th Sultan of Sokoto, Ibrahim Dasuki, Nigeria’s most influential monarch and the Spiritual Head of her millions of Muslims. Abacha did not stop there, he declared Dasuki’s son who was away on a course in the United States a conspirator and had ‘wanted’ posters plastered all over the Sultan’s palace and in April 1996, had him exiled. According to the deposed Emir of Gwandu, Abacha had Dasuki deposed for so many reasons, some boiling down to personal ‘beefs’ and of course, money. Today, Dasuki’s son, Sambo, ADC to former military president IBB, was the National Security Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan that battled a festering insurgency that has claimed many lives. -When he locked up Abiola, prominent people intervened, Nelson Mandela pleaded for MKO’s release and even demanded that if he was not going to release Bashorun, that he should at least do him the personal favour of putting him under protective custody in his Lagos residence. But for where? Alagidi ni Oga Soja. That was Abacha, he no send anybody and na omo ma woju uche, ko ran Baba nla any baga…lol! Mandela would later describe the junta as an ‘illegitimate, barbaric, arrogant dictatorship.’ -He set up the Provisional Ruling Council (PRC) as the highest decision-making body, of which he was the Chairman. Then there was the Federal Executive Council (FEC) which functioned as the executive cabinet body. But it was quite clear power was concentrated in his hands. We will talk about his style of rule and leadership in a short while. Other members of the PRC included the Minister of Defence, the Chief of Defence Staff, the Service Chiefs of the Nigerian Armed Forces, top military officers, national security advisers and other ministers.
It was August 1997 at a summit in Abuja and it was very obvious Abacha was not feeling well. The late nights, stress, anxiety brought by constant fears of a coup or an assassination, rigours of work and cirrhosis of the liver clearly had effects on him as reflected in this picture. He was urged by the Malian President Alpha Oumar Konare to resign and take good care of himself. Abacha used lipstick to coat his cracked lips, his skin is obviously parched and he was not in the best of condition during the summit. In less than a year, he was dead.
-Upon getting to power, Abacha dismantled all existing democratic institutions, from the Constitution to the National Assembly. He went ahead to replace the state governors with military administrators and placed a ban on all political activity. Then he embarked on an unprecedented wave of clamping down on the opposition and advocates of democracy. Some of his opponents and critics of his regime just woke up one day and discovered that the four walls of their cosy bedrooms had magically transformed into that of a jail. His aides too towed his path with the Inspector-General of Police, Alhaji Ibrahim Coomasie releasing a statement: “Any person, whether a politician or a retired military officer or a pro-democracy crusader who thinks he is in a position to install another government is advised in his own interest to tread with caution as security agencies are prepared to act decisively on such matters.” The irony of life, Abacha was a dictator but spared nothing to ensure that democratic regimes in Sierra Leone and Liberia (he saw to the Abuja Peace Accord of 1995, to which Charles Taylor was a signatory) had a strong foothold.
-Under Abacha, the refineries were working to a degree but towards the end of his regime, the refineries kaputted and Nigeria had to import refined petroleum, and the external debt stood at a headache-inducing $30 billion and foreign reserves were about a third of that. As you are reading this, Nigeria will come to an embarrassing standstill if she does not import over 33 million liters of petroleum per DAY. As head of state, Abacha’s government was realizing an average of $10 billion per annum from oil revenues.The OECD estimates that Abacha, his family and cronies embarked on criminal thievery, stealing an average of $0.5-$1 billion per year during his regime.
-Even though Abacha was shunned by many world leaders in a bid to isolate him like Robert Mugabe, Abacha found a way to make bold statements on the international arena, even while he was holed up in his Aso Rock.
-In 1994 and 1995, Abacha was battling a toxic combination of political unrest and a plethora of economic crises. It was so serious Abacha could not attend the ECOWAS summits and other crucial events in the subregion. But by 1996, things fared better and he was made the Chairman of ECOWAS. For many analysts, that was just one of his moves aimed at his grand ambition of becoming a civilian president (aare alagbada) come August 1998. He never saw July.
HIS FIRST LADY: -
His wife, Maryam (Mama Kowa), a fair-complexioned Shuwa Arab, also had her own fair share of power and authority. Mrs. Maryam was described as a humble and kind woman who was close to her staff, especially the junior ones. In his book, Inside Aso Rock, Orji Ogbonnaya Orji describes a First Lady who was ‘very particular about welfare that her kitchen was always opened to all. Younger officers scrambled to be posted to her office…..hardly did any birthday, marriage or similar ceremonies pass by without Madam’s support. She was indeed close to the Press Corps and members of staff in the Rock.’
-In addition to her pet project, the Family Support Programme (FSP), Maryam Abacha also saw to the establishment of a Ministry of Women Affairs (upgraded from the National Commission for Women), National Center for Women Development and the National Hospital, Abuja. She led a contingent of Nigerian women to the United Nations Fourth World Women Conference, Beijing, China in September 1995.
An enchantingly beautiful woman, she gave a motherly face to one of Africa’s most tyrannically despotic regimes. When her husband died, she was visibly shocked at people’s reactions. Mrs. Abacha stated she did not know her husband was that unpopular. Talk of how power insulates you from reality

STYLE OF LEADERSHIP:
It is quite interesting to know that despite the fact that he wielded incredibly vast powers, Abacha operated a complicated style of leadership, and he gave a free hand to all those working under him. He allowed them to carry out their duties without interfering (he was a master at delegating duties), disagree with one another and even debate during meetings (at a time, the Finance Minister, Anthony Ani and the Petroleum Resources counterpart, Dan Etete (who also argued and tussled with Buba Marwa, Lagos State Military Administrator) would blast themselves and argue in the cabinet meeting but Abacha let it all slide, or let me say he obviously enjoyed all the drama and all three served him till the very end).
Abacha himself very rarely spoke during the meetings, and when he did, it was almost in whispers, and aides said you had to strain your ears to pick his words. He was also described as a very attentive listener who enjoyed listening to others rant. Atimes, he dozed off during cabinet meetings or as his best friend Lt. General Jeremiah Timbut Useni put it: he seemed to sleep off during meetings but he was not asleep, he was listening. It was said: Abacha spoke softly, almost inaudibly, like in a whisper and you have to strain your ears to hear him. Perhaps this was a strategy, the strategy of a consummate wielder of power to get his listeners to truly listen…Some who know Abacha think he is a shy man but that may not be the reason for his near-whisper level of discussion. They think he is not a man of emotion, that he never really raises his voice even when he is angry but that he lets actions, not thunderous words, speak for him. Which is why some who don’t know him well, but who have listened to him talk softly are surprised by his tough guy actions. (Newswatch, 24th November 1997, page 10-11).
-Because of his calm exterior, many took him for granted and underestimated his capability, only for them to be stung and stunned by the devastating consequences of daring the Kanuri General. According to the late Abubakar Rimi who was Abacha’s minister of communications: ‘Abacha was the most patient man on earth. We would hold a cabinet meeting for three hours and he would not say a word….I am sure he understood what was happening. And also he cracked a joke one day and said that people shouldn’t bother if he was not speaking at cabinet meetings, that he was learning. Because this cabinet was made up of distinguished Nigerians, distinguished ministers and the amount of grammar they spoke impressed him a lot.’ (Newswatch, 1st February, 1999). -A man who thoroughly mastered and applied the laws of power, General Sani Abacha was also described thus: ‘Now we have the real thing: Abacha….Abacha is a hammer without velvet…Abacha is a patient man, one who is willing to give you a long rope to tie yourself with. That stands him out as a long term planner and strategist. Which is why those who expect quick action from him often feel disappointed. Abacha’s tenacity, some call it obduracy, is evident in the government’s hand combat with the Commonwealth, Britain and the United States in the last three years. That no biting sanctions or no severer action has been taken against Nigeria is a tribute to Abacha’s ability to face his opponents eyeball to eyeball while dangling some carrots to African communities, and the former socialist states as a means of melting the solidarity block that was needed to drown Nigeria.’ (Newswatch, 24th November, 1997, page 14).
-Abacha did not also view threats to his grip on authority with humor. When MKO Abiola declared himself the President and went undercover. Abacha appeared on TV the following evening warning about political chaos and the police declared MKO wanted but he eluded capture for some days. Soldiers, mobile policemen with over 200 vehicles stormed his Moshood Abiola Crescent Lagos residence to arrest him on the 23rd of the same month. MKO did not know the gravity of the situation at hand. While entering the vehicle, he granted an interview to CNN and he stated that he was just being taken away for questioning and urged his supporters to be calm that he would soon be back. He came back to the same residence, but as a corpse. A month after Abacha joined his ancestors; the Aare Ona Kakanfo (Field Marshal) of Yorubaland would also join him, fuelling speculations that both were executed with surgical precision. -By 4th of July, 1994, the nation had erupted in chaos. The oil workers union, the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Employees (NUPENG) started a strike to press for Abiola’s release, and they were later joined by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association (PENGASSAN). For nine good weeks, they brought the nation to a grinding halt and Abacha became increasingly desperate as oil exports dropped and riots broke out sporadically. The Nigerian Labour Congress threatened, briefly joined the strike but was quickly won over by Abacha. Many Nigerians are yet to forgive late Comrade Paschal Bafyau, the NLC President at that time for the ‘betrayal’. By the middle of August, Abacha responded by firing the leaders of the petroleum unions, arresting them and sealing their offices. By the time the protests died down, over 120 street protesters were killed by government forces. -On the 25th of September 1995, Yoruba monarchs from Lagos State paid him a visit to plead on behalf of the imprisoned Bashorun. But Abacha told them Abiola’s case would have to follow the normal legal procedures, and he cannot interfere or grant any clemency until the courts decide MKO’s fate. -The Treasury of the Nigerian nation was also not in the very best of hands under Abacha. For the finance minister, Anthony Ani, he once received a gift of $10 million (dude, that’s N1.6 billion naira). Why? He complained lightheartedly to Abacha that he was broke. When Ani wanted to deny this and that he did not return any money to the Federal Government in a publication, his story fell flat when Mohammed Abacha confirmed that indeed, his father instructed him to hand over the $10 million gift to Ani. And guess what? Ani was not the only beneficiary of the incredible gift. The Minister of Power and Steel, Bashir Dalhatu who would later marry and divorce one of Abacha’s daughters also pocketed his own ten million bucks. Now, that reminds me of the former Zamfara State Governor and presently a Senator, Sani Ahmed Yerima. When he was working with the Central Bank of Nigeria, he had to make withdrawals and take to the Aso Rock Presidential Villa under Abacha’s regime, he was given tips up to $10,000 for ‘taxi’. Senator Yerima was an Abacha boy who got rewarded with a sweet CBN job because of his loyalty but today, he has successfully metamorphosed, and in a country like Nigeria, anything is possible, anything goes. Just imagine someone ‘dashing’ you N1.6 million to ‘catch bike’. These are the exact words of Yerima: ‘When I was at the Central Bank, in the foreign exchange (department), I would take $800,000 to the Presidential Villa for the ECOMOG operations and sometimes the officer would dash me $10,000 or $5,000.’
Upon the sudden death of Abacha, many of these Abacha boys formed a new party, the All Peoples Party, APP (derisively called the Abacha Peoples Party), and for the smart ones among them, they still loom large today on Nigeria’s political scene. -As it is with Nigerian leaders mouthing their crusade against corruption, Abacha initiated a government commission of inquiry to look into the activities of the CBN. Now referred to as the Pius Okigbo Report, the commission in October 1994 unearthed details on how a sum of $12.4 billion vaporized. Abacha did not or was not able to adopt the recommendations of the commission but how do you expect that to be done since he was part and parcel of the same IBB government?

He also launched the War Against Indiscipline and Corruption and even instituted the Failed Banks Tribunal which critics dismissed as being targeted at bank managers from the Southwest. The same pattern would later repeat itself under Yar’adua when Sanusi Lamido Sanusi (who had his own role to play under Abacha too) proceeded to purge the banking sector. By the way, I do not see Nigeria progressing with shallow-minded tribalism, infantile clan loyalty and the ethnocentric allegiances that many blindly hold. Such short-sighted mentalities do not make great nations. -Even though Abacha was hailed as being non-tribalistic, members of his cabinet openly demonstrated this obnoxious trait. For instance, Alhaji Muhammadu Gambo, former Inspector-General of Police and the Coordinator of National Security under Abacha once openly stated that the North was more than willing to go to war over petroleum reserves in the southern part of the country. Gambo would later state while fighting the Obasanjo presidency in 2005: “Whatever you may say about General Sani Abacha, there was security during his time. Only those who were in politics and confronting him had problem with him and they knew the price they wanted to pay just like us now.” Talking of security, it is quite interesting to know that it was under him in August 1994 that the Oodua Peoples’ Congress (OPC) was formed as an armed militant wing of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO). The fact be told, bodies like these are the ones entrenching tribalism in the nation, clashing with rival gangs and carrying out raids. It is only in a broken-down nation where security means nothing that everyone becomes a warlord in his own abete, ruling like a Congolese rebel commander over a private army.
With his Chief Security Officer, Major Hamza al-Mustapha. -Like other maximum rulers, Abacha was extra cautious and did not joke about his personal security. Most of the time, he was holed up in his fortress, the Aso Rock Presidential Villa and rarely travelled out of the country. He was comfortable in his cocoon and left General Diya, also a trained lawyer and an eloquent Odogbolu man, to do much of the travelling, holding press conferences and other functions. He was protected by three rings of impressive security made up of officials and operatives trained to take bullets for him, and trust me, they were fiercely loyal to the Head of State. -These were the Strike Force (SF), Brigade of Guards (BGs) and the Military Police. Around the nation’s leader, these three concentric rings of brute force shielded him from the prying eyes of 120 million Nigerians. -The Strike Force, derisively referred to as ‘Abacha’s assassination squad’ had its members trained in North Korea where Lt. General Jeremiah Timbut Useni visited them, Israel (teams of Israeli forces were in the country to train members of the squad, and between June 1993 and June 1996, there were fourteen major bombings in various parts of the country, with the Southwest of the Yorubas bearing the heaviest hit) and Libya, it was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Ibrahim Yakassai, a medical doctor (would later fall out of favour with Al Mustapha in 1997), and Ibrahim Umar (former deputy commander of the sophisticated who would later accuse Al Mustapha of orchestrating his exit and implicating him in the 1997 coup plot) while the Brigade of Guards and the Strike Force were both referred to as Al Mustapha’s army (Yakassai took orders from Al-Mustapha even though he was his inferior in the army). -To be in Abacha’s good books, the Minister for Works and Housing, Major General Abdulkarim Adisa spoilt the Strike Force silly with gifts and was supergenerous with funding the unit. Although these were the three main visible rings of security, it has been estimated that the force marshalled for Abacha’s personal security alone was up to 3,000 men. The soft-spoken Al Mustapha, now with a death penalty hanging upon him, eventually became the most dreaded man in the regime with generals melting at the mention of his name and accused of being the brain behind the orgy of killings and bomb explosions around the terrified nation. The graphic details of the torture, incarceration and harassment that many Nigerians faced in the hands of Abacha’s men are better left unveiled. -According to Lt. General Oladipo Diya, the former Chief of General Staff (CGS) and de facto Vice President, ‘the fear of Al Mustapha is the beginning of wisdom.’ For those who were perceived or confirmed to be the General’s foes, they were silenced by the lethal weapons of an assassin. During this time, Kudirat Abiola (4th June 1996), Pa Alfred Rewane (October 6, 1995), Alhaja Suliat Adedeji (14th November, 1996) and Toyin Onagoruwa were all murdered in cold blood. Alhaja Adedeji was a well-known Ibadan political activist and businesswoman. Although, her death is often linked to Abacha’s forces, the whole scenario becomes quite confusing when one realizes that she was actually on good terms with Abacha, and had collected a sum of N50 million to organize a rally in support of the dictator. She was even one of those who established the Democratic Party of Nigeria (DPN) which encouraged Abacha to become a civilian president. (If you are wondering how the two met and how he cultivated his relationship with Adedibu also, remember that Abacha was the GOC in Ibadan.)
There was also the unresolved daylight murder of an 80-year-old grandmother, prominent Abeokuta businesswoman, the third Iyalode of Egbaland and Nigeria’s first female industrialist, Chief (Mrs). Bisoye Esther Tejuoso OON (nee Karunwi) on the 29th September, 1996.
-Others who also lost their lives in the spree of extrajudicial killings under Abacha include Bagauda Kaltho (Kaduna-based correspondent of TheNews), retired Navy Commodore Olu Omotehinwa and retired Vice Admiral Babatunde Muftau Adegoke Elegbede who was the former Chief of Naval Staff and a member of IBB’s Armed Forces Revolutionary Council. On the 19th of June, 1994, Elegbede was assassinated by unknown gunmen along the Gbagada/Oworonshoki Expressway in Lagos, he was hit with more than 70 bullets. If not for fate, people like the Afenifere leader, Senator Abraham Adesanya and Alex Ibru, former internal affairs minister and publisher of The Guardian would have died then. Many others like Gani Fawehinmi and Beko Ransome-Kuti were flung into gulags while others like Professor Wole Soyinka (read all about him here) negotiated with their legs and escaped via the famed NADECO route. Now, that is what I call one very bloody era. -The Strike Force had an army sergeant named Barnabas Jabila (also known as Sergeant Rogers) as its marksman and sharp shooter. On the 7th of December, 2001, he broke down in tears before the Oputa Panel in Lagos confessing thus: “Please I ask for forgiveness. I felt more than remorseful because when I was doing it (killing), I thought I was working for the state. We were told by Major Al-Mustapha that those who we were asked to kill were enemies of Nigeria. We were made to believe that they were those people who wanted to divide the country.” He also stated that no operation was carried out without the knowledge and approval of Al Mustapha. Rogers said he was sent to kill three times but succeeded only with Kudirat Abiola failing with Adesanya and Ibru. -Then there was the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) headed by the notoriously brutal Col. Frank Omenka. He once asked for the full names of Senator Olabiyi Durojaiye, a NADECO member and when the senator demanded to know why, Omenka retorted: “To know what to write on your grave. For if I have my way, I’ll line up all of you NADECO trouble makers, waste you with my bullets and dump you all in a mass grave. I’ll write: “Here lies the remains of the enemies of the state.” Then I will list your names. You see, I don’t believe in human rights. Quote me. There is no human rights anywhere; not in America not in Britain.” Omenka, who answered to a much-junior Al Mustapha, fled the country upon Abacha’s demise to Brazil and nothing has been heard of him ever since. O pare bi iso! -Major Hamza al-Mustapha was the Chief Security Officer (CSO) to Abacha. Al-Mustapha took his work very seriously, and his zealousness was quite visible. At a point, he even hired a marabout (spiritualist) who instructed Abacha to remove Ismaila Gwarzo as the National Security Adviser. Abacha never read any publications, forget the newspapers and magazines, he primarily relied on the information given to him by his security officers, Al-Mustapha and Gwarzo in particular. Al Mustapha is also a Kanuri man hailing from the Nguru District of Yobe State.
-Another Kanuri man that Abacha relied on for security is Zakari Biu, a deputy chief of police (Assistant Commissioner of Police) and Chairman of the Special Presidential Task Force on Terrorism (see pictures) who has been accused of covering up for the various terror plots in the country. Senator Christy Anyanwu told of how Biu gave her a stinging slap and subjected her to torture when she was accused of plotting a coup in 1995. Even after all the crimes he was accused of at the Oputa Panel, he was retained in the Police Force until Obasanjo fired him in 1999 and for the next 11 years, he quietly fought for his reinstatement into the force until 2010 when he was reinstated by the Police Service Commission and promoted to the rank of a Commissioner of Police even though his old mate, Hafiz Ringim was already the IG. -Eventually, he was suspended in 2012 when Boko Haram suspect, Kabiru Sokoto escaped from custody. Biu was the Commissioner of Police and Head, Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Police Zone 7 Headquarters overseeing Sokoto’s case. In a twist of events, Biu’s son, Tahir, working with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was killed when bombs went off during the 50th Independence Anniversary Celebrations in Abuja in 2010. Soyinka says of Biu: “There’s no reason why somebody like Zakari Biu cannot be co-opted by the al-Qaeda because, obviously, he has no concern for humanity. He’s a complete brute. You know, he can torture. I can see Zakari Biu very happily strapping a bomb to himself and blowing up a passenger plane.”
Zakari Biu -Al Mustapha, a major in the army, was so incredibly powerful that according to General Diya, he single-handedly reversed the decision of the Provisional Ruling Council to release MKO Abiola not once or twice but FOUR times. He was so powerful that not even state military governors (MILADs) messed with him. He decided who would see the C-in-C and even scheduled when the C-in-C is to venture out of the Presidential Villa. Abacha and others also respected him as it was believed that he was gifted with certain spiritual powers to the extent that the General himself consulted him for spiritual matters, turning Abacha into a recluse holed up in the Villa, cutting him off from the rest of the world, creating a new world for the late dictator. He would also arrange for spiritual marabouts from Niger, Chad, Senegal, Mali and other neighboring countries for ‘special’ spiritual sessions in the Villa. -On the 13th of December, 1997, when Diya was almost killed in a bomb blast as he was about to board a plane, Al Mustapha was also fingered. General Diya was on his way to Makurdi, Benue State to attend the funeral ceremony of the mother of his Principal Staff Officer, Lawrence Onoja. Atimes you cannot but shudder at the chilling level of sheer evil in Nigerian governments. One of the men who planted the bomb died in the process while the second who survived would later die under questionable circumstances in while receiving treatment. Both of them were in Libya for an elite training on VIP protection and North Korea were they learnt how to handle explosives. Not long after the explosion (21st December), Diya was arrested with eleven others for allegedly planning to overthrow the General. By 28th April, he was already sentenced to death alongside others.

Speechless

......un-put-downable!!! (pardon my tunranchi abeg).
Gripping......although too long!

following

Abacha was born and brought up in kano. He is more of an Hausa-Fulani man, than Kanuri.