[TRENDING VIDEO]: “I drove myself to police station,” Obasanjo recounts arrest under Abacha regime
Former Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo, has recounted his experience during the military regime of the late General Sani Abacha, revealing how he personally drove himself to a police station after learning of his arrest.
Obasanjo, who served as Nigeria’s military Head of State between 1976 and 1979, said he turned to farming after leaving government at the age of 42, believing he had exited public office too early.
However, his retirement from public service was interrupted when the Abacha-led military government arrested him.
Recounting the circumstances surrounding his arrest, Obasanjo suggested that Abacha was determined to eliminate him, alleging that the former military ruler saw his death as necessary to achieve his political ambitions.
“When I left government as Head of State at the age of 42, I left too early, so I decided to go into farming until I was arrested. Abacha had decided that I must be liquidated, otherwise he would not be able to have his way,” he said.
The former president also described the unusual circumstances surrounding his arrest, recalling how he drove himself to the police station despite the authorities’ decision to detain him.
“How Abacha locked me inside prison, I used my own hand to drive myself to the police station,” Obasanjo stated.
Obasanjo was arrested in 1995 during Abacha’s regime over an alleged coup plot and was subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment, a sentence later reduced to 15 years.
He was released in June 1998 following Abacha’s death, bringing an end to his three-year incarceration.
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