How Sani Abacha Died…AL Mustapha. NOT BY APPLE

From The Archives…How Sani Abacha Died…Al Mustapha.
NOT BY APPLE
“When I got to the bedside of the Head of State, he was
already gasping. Ordinarily, I could not just touch him. It was
not allowed in our job. But under the situation on ground, I
knelt close to him and shouted, “General Sani Abacha, Sir,
please grant me permission to touch and carry you.”
Contrary to insinuations, speculations and sad rumours
initiated by some sections of the society, I maintain that the
sudden collapse of the health system of the late Head of State
started previous day (Sunday, 7th June, 1998) right from the
Abuja International Airport immediately after one of the white
security operatives or personnel who accompanied President
Yasser Arafat of Palestine shook hands with him (General
Abacha) I had noticed the change in the countenance of the
late Commander-in-Chief and informed the Aide-de-Camp, Lt.
Col. Abdallah, accordingly. He, however, advised that we keep
a close watch on the Head of State.
Later in the evening of 8th June, 1998, around 6p.m; his
doctor came around, administered an injection to stabilize
him. He was advised to have a short rest. Happily, enough, by
9p.m; the Head of State was bouncing and receiving visitors
until much later when General Jeremiah Timbut Useni, the then
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, came calling. He was
fond of the Head of State. They were very good friends.
They stayed and chatted together till about 3.35a.m. A friend
of the house was with me in my office and as he was bidding
me farewell, he came back to inform me that the FCT Minister,
General Useni was out of the Head of State’s Guest House
within the Villa. I then decided to inform the ADC and other
security boys that I would be on my way home to prepare for
the early morning event at the International Conference
Centre.
At about 5a.m; the security guards ran to my quarters to
inform me that the Head of State was very unstable. At first, I
thought it was a coup attempt. Immediately, I prepared myself
fully for any eventuality.
As an intelligence officer and the Chief Security Officer to the
Head of State for that matter, I devised a means of diverting
the attention of the security boys from my escape route by
asking my wife to continue chatting with them at the door –
she was in the house while the boys were outside. From there,
I got to the Guest House of the Head of State before them.
When I got to the bedside of the Head of State, he was already
gasping. Ordinarily, I could not just touch him. It was not
allowed in our job. But under the situation on ground, I knelt
close to him and shouted, “General Sani Abacha, Sir, please
grant me permission to touch and carry you.” I again knocked
at the stool beside the bed and shouted in the same manner,
yet he did not respond. I then realized there was a serious
danger. I immediately called the Head of State’s personal
physician, Dr. Wali, who arrived the place under eight minutes
from his house.
He immediately gave Oga – General Abacha – two doses of
injection, one at the heart and another close to his neck. This
did not work apparently as the Head of State had turned very
cold. He then told me that the Head of State was dead and
nothing could be done after all.
I there and then asked the personal physician to remain with
the dead body while I dashed home to be fully prepared for the
problems that might arise from the incident. As soon as I
informed my wife, she collapsed and burst into tears. I
secured my house and then ran back.
At that point, the Aide-de-Camp had been contacted by me and
we decided that great caution must be taken in handling the
grave situation.
Again, I must reiterate that the issue of my Boss dying on top
of women was a great lie just as the insinuation that General
Sani Abacha ate and died of poisoned apples was equally a
wicked lie. My question is: did Chief M.K.O Abiola die of
poisoned apples or did he die on top of women? As I had
stated at the Oputa Panel, their deaths were organized. Pure
and simple!
It was at this point that I used our special communication
gadgets to diplomatically invite the Service Chiefs, Military
Governors and some few elements purportedly to a meeting
with the Head of State by 9a.m. at the Council Chamber. That
completed, I also decided to talk to some former leaders of
the nation to inform them that General Sani Abacha would like
to meet them by 9a.m.
Situation became charged however, when one of the Service
Chiefs, Lieutenant General Ishaya Rizi Bamaiyi, who pretended
to be with us, suggested he be made the new Head of State
after we had quietly informed him of the death of General Sani
Abacha. He even suggested we should allow him access to
Chief Abiola. We smelt a rat and other heads of security
agencies, on hearing this, advised I move Chief Abiola to a
safer destination. I managed to do this in spite of the fact that
I had been terribly overwhelmed with the crisis at hand.
But then, when some junior officers over-heard the suggestion
of one of the Service Chiefs earlier mentioned, it was
suggested to me that we should finish all the members of the
Provisional Ruling Council and give the general public an
excuse that there was a meeting of the PRC during which a
shoot-out occurred between some members of the Provisional
Ruling Council and the Body Guards to the Head of State
When I sensed that we would be contending with far more
delicate issues than the one on ground, I talked to Generals
Buba Marwa and Ibrahim Sabo who both promptly advised us
– the junior officers – against any bloodshed. They advised
we contact General Ibrahim Babangida (former Military
President) who equally advised against any bloodshed but
that we should support the most senior officer in the
Provisional Ruling Council (PRC) to be the new Head of State.
Since the words of our elders are words of wisdom, we agreed
to support General Jeremiah Useni. Along the line, General
Bamaiyi lampooned me saying, “Can’t you put two and two
together to be four? Has it not occurred to you that General
Useni who was the last man with the Head of State might have
poisoned him, knowing full well that he was the most senior
officer in the PRC?”
Naturally, I became furious with General Useni since General
Abacha’s family had earlier on complained severally about the
closeness of the two Generals; at that, a decision was taken to
storm General Useni’s house with almost a battalion of
soldiers to effect his arrest. Again, some heads of security
units and agencies, including my wife, advised against the
move.
The next most senior person and officer in government was
General Abdulsalami Abubakar, who was then the Chief of
Defence Staff. We rejected the other Service Chief, who, we
believed, was too ambitious and destructive. We settled for
General Abubakar and about six of us called him inside a room
in the Head of State’s residence to break the news of the
death of General Abacha to him.
As a General with vast experience, Abdulsalami Abubakar,
humbly requested to see and pray for the soul of General
Abacha which we allowed. Do we consider this a mistake?
Because right there, he – Abubakar – went and sat on the
seat of the late Head of State. Again, I was very furious. Like I
said at the Oputa Panel, if caution was not applied, I would
have gunned him down.
The revolution the boys were yearning for would have started
right there. The assumption that we could not have succeeded
in the revolution was a blatant lie. We were in full control of
the State House and the Brigade of Guards. We had loyal
troops in Keffi and in some other areas surrounding the seat
of government – Abuja. But I allowed peace to reign because
we believed it would create further crises in the country.
We followed the advice of General Ibrahim Badamasi
Babangida and the wise counsel of some loyal senior officers
and jointly agreed that General Abdulsalami Abubakar be
installed Head of State, Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian
Armed Forces immediately after the burial of General Sani
Abacha in Kano. It is an irony of history that the same Service
Chief who wanted to be Head of State through bloodshed,
later instigated the new members of the Provisional Ruling
Council against us and branded us killers, termites and all
sorts of hopeless names. They planned, arranged our arrest,
intimidation and subsequent jungle trial in 1998 and 1999.
These, of course, led to our terrible condition in several
prisons and places of confinement.