Abdulsalami Opens Up on Secret Detention of MKO Abiola

Abdulsalami Opens Up on Secret Detention of MKO Abiola

Nearly three decades after the death of Chief MKO Abiola, former military Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar (retd.), has revealed that neither he nor the late Chief of General Staff, Gen. Oladipo Diya, knew where the presumed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election was being held during the regime of late military ruler Gen. Sani Abacha.

Abdulsalami made the disclosure in his autobiography, Call of Duty: An Autobiography of Gen. Abdulsalami Alhaji Abubakar, launched in Abuja during events marking his 84th birthday.

According to the former Head of State, MKO Abiola’s detention was shrouded in secrecy, with the businessman and politician moved between different detention facilities throughout the four years he spent in custody.

“Before I became Head of State, I didn’t know where Abiola was being detained. Even General Diya, who was second-in-command to Abacha, had no idea where Abiola was being held. They kept moving him from one detention centre to another,” Abdulsalami wrote.

The revelation highlights the extent of secrecy within the Abacha administration and suggests that even senior members of the military government were excluded from critical decisions concerning Abiola’s detention.

Abiola, widely believed to have won the June 12, 1993 presidential election, was arrested in 1994 after declaring himself president following the annulment of the election by former military ruler Gen. Ibrahim Babangida. The election, regarded by many observers as Nigeria’s freest and fairest poll, triggered a prolonged political crisis that led to nationwide protests and international condemnation after its annulment.

Following Babangida’s exit from power in August 1993, an Interim National Government headed by Chief Ernest Shonekan was established. However, the administration lasted only three months before it was overthrown by Abacha. Abiola remained in detention throughout Abacha’s rule until the military leader’s sudden death on June 8, 1998.

In the memoir, Abdulsalami disclosed that he quietly worked behind the scenes to secure Abiola’s freedom despite the political risks involved. He said that shortly after Abiola’s arrest, he initiated contacts with leaders of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) in search of a political solution to the crisis created by the annulled election.

“At this point, I need to recount that after Abiola was arrested in 1994, I had, against the grain, made efforts to get him released at the risk of being deemed disloyal by Abacha,” he stated.

According to Abdulsalami, these efforts remained largely unknown to the public because any perceived support for Abiola could have been interpreted as opposition to the Abacha regime.

The former military leader also revealed that Abiola’s family was denied access to him for most of his detention. He noted that only Abiola’s personal physician, Dr. Ore Falomo, was permitted to see him regularly, underscoring the restrictive conditions under which the politician was held.

“His family never saw him. It was only his personal physician, Dr Ore Falomo, who had access to him,” Abdulsalami recalled.

He said one of his first actions after becoming Head of State following Abacha’s death was to ensure that Abiola’s family could finally visit him. According to him, the decision was resisted by some members of his administration who opposed changing the policy surrounding Abiola’s detention.

“When I became Head of State, I insisted that his family must be granted access to him, despite strong opposition from some members of my government,” he said.

Abdulsalami used the memoir to challenge the perception that becoming Head of State immediately gave him complete control of government and military structures. He explained that powerful interests remained embedded within the system and that he had to carefully navigate competing factions while consolidating authority.

“What many people outside government did not know was that even though I was now in power, there were still different interests in the military and in government. I was new in the office and needed to consolidate my hold on the system. I needed to be careful and calculated with my actions,” he wrote.

He further stated that despite his access to Abacha during his years in office, he was never part of the inner circle responsible for the regime’s most sensitive political and security decisions.

“Despite my access to Abacha when he was in power, I was still effectively an outsider in his government. Becoming Head of State did not mean I could dissolve the power centres or displace entrenched interests overnight,” he added.

Abdulsalami revealed that arrangements had been made for members of Abiola’s family to meet him shortly before his anticipated release. According to him, one group of relatives met Abiola on July 6, 1998, while another group was scheduled to visit him the following day.

However, the second meeting never took place.

“One group saw him on the first day, July 6, 1998. The other group was to see him the next day, July 7. However, that second meeting never took place. That was not to be,” he wrote.

Abiola died on July 7, 1998, barely a month after Abacha’s death, shocking Nigerians and ending hopes that he would eventually assume the presidency many believed he had won.

Abdulsalami has also maintained that Abiola was not poisoned, citing findings from an international autopsy involving Nigerian, American, British and Canadian pathologists, which concluded that the politician died from natural causes linked to existing health conditions.

The latest revelations provide fresh insight into the internal workings of the Abacha regime and the circumstances surrounding one of the most significant episodes in Nigeria’s democratic history.

Abdulsalami Opens Up on Secret Detention of MKO Abiola