Atiku: How I Escaped Being Killed by Abacha

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar

by: Davidson Iriekpen

As part of his celebration of the nation’s democracy, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar tweeted a narrative that traced his entry into politics and how, over the years, he became an advocate of democracy. While paying tributes to his political mentor, the late Shehu Musa Yar'Adua (SMY), whom he said introduced him into politics, he recounted how he narrowly escaped the killer-squad of the late Gen Sani Abacha.

He said it was his escape to London that ultimately saved him from the fierce aides of the late Head of State.

Hear him: "Despite the pretensions to get a new constitution, for which SMY and I were elected to a conference, Abacha had no democratic intentions.

Defying repeated threats from Abacha's government, more than anyone else, Shehu Yar'Adua kept pushing Abacha for a handover date.

If SMY enjoyed any respect as a senior officer under IBB, there was no such respect under Abacha. Yar'Adua was simply seen as a threat.

"On March 9, 1995, Yar'Adua was arrested. Obasanjo was also arrested. While in jail, they heard the government had announced a coup plot.

"Abdulsalami Abubakar, Chief of Defence Staff then, announced that 29 officers and civilians had been arrested in connection with a coup plot.

"Brigadier-General Felix Mujakperuo was picked to head the Special Investigation Panel (SIP) into the alleged coup.

"Under torture, arrested officers were forced to confess to plotting a coup, and implicating Yar'Adua and Obasanjo.

"A sham trial was staged. Yar’Adua was sentenced to death and Obasanjo to life imprisonment.

"I was out of the country when Yar’Adua was picked up. When I returned, my residence in Kaduna was attacked by unknown gunmen in May 1995.

"Six policemen and one guard died in that attack. It is still a miracle to me how my wife, Titi, our son, Adamu, and I escaped unhurt.

"In detention, SMY was more concerned about Nigeria's future than about his life. He feared that Abacha had thrown Nigeria into chaos.

"Because of SMY's continued activism, even in Kirikiri Prisons, he was later transferred to Port Harcourt and Abakaliki Prisons .

"Abacha was not satisfied keeping Yar’Adua in jail and intimidating me. He seized our biggest business and removed us from the board.

"Abacha’s security agents trailed me everywhere. They bugged my phones and seized my passport.

"In the end, I fled the country, smuggled on a London bound flight from the tarmac. SMY was not so lucky.

"Yar'Adua was repeatedly tortured in prison, and he was denied access to proper medical treatment, yet he persevered .

"Yar'Adua kept in contact with associates through letters and tapes while in prison. He still believed in the course of democracy.

"On December 8, 1997, I was in exile. A call came that Yar'Adua had died in Abakiliki Prison. I wept like a child.

"Terminally ill, SMY was deliberately denied treatment till the last minute. He died on the way to hospital, after approval finally came."

Atiku recalled that the political astuteness of Yar’ádua established him partisan politics, lamenting that he and YarÁdua suffered several betrayals among fellow politicians, but added that their love for the nation’s democracy made them sacrifice their own ambitions so Nigeria’s that democracy can be deeply rooted.

According to him, "To persuade Yar'Adua to support MKO Abiola, I went to meet General Obasanjo, his former boss, in Ota Farm.

"Despite the betrayal, SMY was persuaded by Obasanjo and us to support Abiola again for the sake of democracy.

"With Yar'Adua's support, Abiola led the elections overwhelmingly. It was a landslide win. Then IBB's government annulled the election.

"We were saddened about the annulment, and tired of the endless transition. That's why we agreed to the Interim National Government (ING)."

He remarked that late Yara’Adua’s political machine was formidable in Nigeria.

“In Nigeria's history, political parties had mostly been formed on regional platforms. SMY formed the first truly national movement.

"The Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM)  as his movement came to be known, spanned across all of Nigeria's regions

"Today, I salute Shehu Musa Yar'Adua, an unsung and oft forgotten hero of modern Nigerian democracy

"Shehu believed in democracy, and paid the ultimate price. He died for democracy.”