Olusegun Obasanjo, former President of Nigeria
has made a startling revelation of how former Nigerian dictator, Sani Abacha
poisoned the late Shehu Musa Yar’Adua whose younger brother later became
President of Nigeria.
A
former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo on Saturday made a baffling
confession how late dictator, Gen. Sani Abacha killed the late Shehu Musa
Yar’Adua in prison by injecting him with a deadly virus. He also said that
Abacha made sure that June 12 hero, the late Moshood Abiola didn’t make it out
of prison alive.
Obasanjo
made the sad revelation at a dinner programme organised by an
inter-denominational Christian organisation, Christ The Redeemer’s Friends
International of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Lagos Province 39
Chapter.
He
said Yar’Adua was poisoned by Abacha’s killer squad, adding that he was to be
next victim, but that he was saved by God’s divine grace.
Obasanjo
said, “Two people had earlier told me Abacha promised that three of us would
not come out of prison or detention alive; myself. Shehu Yar Adua and MKO
Abiola. And two of them did not come out alive. So, that I came out alive,
maybe God has a purpose. And therefore if the purpose is for me to serve the
people and by so doing, serve God, then so be it.
“Abacha
claimed that I was plotting a coup. I wasn’t the first to be arrested. When
Shehu (Yar’Adua) was arrested, I tried to plead for his release. When Abacha
said he didn’t know about Shehu’s arrest, I said to him, ‘the number two man in
this country cannot be arrested without you knowing.’ He then said he would go
and find out.
“In
Abacha’s plan, he left God out of it and because he left God out of his plan,
it (his government) eventually failed. There is God’s hand in the life of each
and every one of us and every institution. I believe that very well.
“When
I was arrested, they took me to a house in Ikoyi (Lagos) and that became my
abode (I was) in isolation, for three months.
“In
the meantime, there were national and international pressures for my release,
(former US) President Jimmy Carter was one of the world leaders that came to
ask for my release. Some African leaders like Yoweri Museveni and Robert Mugabe
came. I believe it was because of those pressures that I was released from
isolation in Ikoyi where I was under house arrest.”
Recounting
the day he was court-martialled and sentenced as one of the ‘worst days in his
life’, Obasanjo said: “I must say that, that day, in a split second, it felt
like the worst day in my life. What flashed through my mind was that I was
forever ruined. I asked myself, ‘What did I do to deserve this? Is this what I
get for serving Nigeria?’ But then, I told myself again that this was not done
to me by Nigeria, but that one man did it for me.”
Narrating
his time in Jos and Port Harcourt prisons, he said, “I was to go to Jos
(prison) and Yar’Adua was to go to Port Harcourt (prison). In Jos, I was
visited by my colleagues, including Yakubu Danjuma, Joe Garba, Domkat Bali,
many of our colleagues, and then family members and friends.
“Then
a decision was made that I was becoming too popular in Jos prison and I had to be
transferred to. Yola prison which is a native authority prison and I don’t need
to tell you what life was there.
“In
Jos prison, before I was transferred to Yola prison, they had decided that
Shehu Yar’Adua and myself should be poisoned. So, they took him from Port
Harcourt prison to Abakaliki. In the process, he was injected with the virus
that killed him. The same was supposed to be done to me.
The
man who came took me from the prison to a guest house in the GRA in Jos, said,
‘We know you have problem with cholesterol so I have to take your blood for a
test.’ Then I said, ‘Not on your life, I don’t have any problem of
cholesterol.’
“I
was slightly diabetic. But God had taken care of it because I was checking my
blood sugar almost on a daily basis and it had become better than normal. So, I
refused him (the man) touching me with anything. So, they took me to Yola and
he said, ‘when you get to where you are going, we will come again.’”
The
former president said he was saved from being poisoned by a doctor and
specialist in the prison.
“The
doctor was a professional man in charge of the General Hospital in Yola. He
listened to my case that I needed special food because I was diabetic. He said
the specialist would come to see me. The specialist turned out to be somebody
from Okeogun in Oyo State. Two, he was a Baptist, and three, he had heard about
me and knew me. So, he looked at me and said, ‘Don’t let anybody touch you with
anything.’
“Within
three weeks the man that came to me earlier returned again and said he wanted
to take my blood. I said, ‘No, you have to get my doctor to come and take my
blood for you.’ That was the arrangement between me and the doctor. And my
doctor came and he brought a syringe and he took my blood and gave it to him.
He now asked the man, ‘When would we have the result?’The man said, ‘Within 24
hours of my getting to Abuja.’I haven’t heard the result till today.”
Obasanjo
said after his release from prison, he gave into pressure to contest for the
presidency and he ended up becoming president for two terms by the grace of
God. “Nigeria that was a pariah state became a darling (of the world).
“What
is the lesson for me? I developed in prison but unfortunately I was not able to
sustain it. Maybe because there was nothing else to do in prison except to pray
and fast. I used to fast a lot. On three occasions, I fasted for seven days, no
water, no food… a unique power was given to me by God.
“In
all these, God did not leave me alone, and I know that. I say to people that
God has never let me alone nor disappointed me in spite of all. I am a sinner.
It is not because of my goodness, but because of the grace of God, and the
grace of God continues to abound.”
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