Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has revealed that former military Head of State, the late General Sani Abacha, wanted him eliminated to achieve his political objectives.
Obasanjo made the revelation in a video published by the BBC, where he recounted the circumstances surrounding his arrest during Abacha’s military regime.
The former president also spoke about his decision to venture into agriculture after retiring from the Nigerian Army, saying he had initially enjoyed a successful farming career before his arrest.
Recounting his decision to leave military service, Obasanjo said he considered himself too young to retire at the age of 42, having attained the rank of a four-star general and served as military Head of State.
According to him: “When I was leaving the government as the military Head of State I was leaving too early, I didn’t join the army to retire at the age of 42.
“At the age of 42 I have become a four-star general, there was nothing I could do in the army, I had become the military Head of State, the highest political office
.
“So what can I do, I decided I will go into farming, it really was going well and it went well until I was arrested.
“Abacha had decided that I must be liquidated, otherwise he won’t be able to have his way, I didn’t know that. I travelled and was coming back, the American ambassador in Nigeria called me and said his country has offered me political asylum because they know that I will be arrested if I return home.
“I haven’t done anything, what would they arrest me for? Why would I want a political asylum? When I arrived, they seized my passport and at the gate of my farm, my security said security had surrounded the farm.
“And not up to 15 minutes this man came in with mufti, not uniform, and said I have been invited by the AIG to come and help. I said if the AIG wants me to help, he will not invite me, he will come here.
“It was my own car I drove to the police station and the AIG said, ‘I have been instructed to arrest you.’ I didn’t know that it was Abacha’s decision that some of us must not be kept free otherwise.”
Obasanjo’s account highlights the circumstances surrounding his arrest under Abacha’s administration and his decision to reject an offer of political asylum from the United States before returning to Nigeria.
