‘I drove myself to police station for Abacha’s arrest’ – Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has recounted how he drove himself to a police station after learning that officers had been sent to arrest him during the military regime of the late General Sani Abacha.

Obasanjo narrated the experience while reflecting on his imprisonment under Abacha, describing how he chose to report himself rather than wait for security operatives to come for him.

“Na my own car I use drive myself go police station,” he said, recalling how he made his way to the station after receiving information about the planned arrest.

The account provides another insight into the circumstances surrounding Obasanjo’s detention in 1995, when the Abacha regime accused him of involvement in an alleged coup plot.

Obasanjo, who has consistently maintained his innocence, was among several military officers and civilians arrested during the crackdown that followed the announcement of an alleged plot to overthrow Abacha’s government.

The former president had earlier disclosed that he rejected an offer of political asylum in the United States after the then US Ambassador to Nigeria, Walter Carrington, warned him that he would be arrested if he returned to the country.

In 1995, Obasanjo travelled to Copenhagen, Denmark, to attend the World Social Summit as a United Nations Human Development Ambassador.

According to his account, Carrington contacted him while he was abroad, warned him against returning to Nigeria and offered him political asylum in the United States.

However, Obasanjo rejected the offer, insisting that he had done nothing wrong and had no reason to flee the country.

“I came back and was arrested and imprisoned by Abacha,” he recalled in a condolence message following Carrington’s death in 2020.

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His arrest came amid the military government’s investigation into an alleged coup plot involving several prominent figures, including former Chief of General Staff, Major General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua.

Obasanjo was subsequently tried by a military tribunal and sentenced to life imprisonment. His detention attracted international condemnation and appeals from foreign leaders and organisations.

Former United States President Jimmy Carter was among those who intervened on his behalf. Obasanjo later said Carter visited Nigeria and appealed directly to Abacha for his release.

Yar’Adua, who was also convicted over the alleged coup plot, died in detention in December 1997.

Obasanjo regained his freedom in June 1998 following Abacha’s death and later contested the 1999 presidential election under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which he won.

He served as Nigeria’s civilian president from 1999 to 2007, having earlier ruled the country as military Head of State from 1976 to 1979.