A son of late Chief MKO Abiola, Jamiu Abiola, has lamented the refusal of former military Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar (retd.), to release his father from incarceration when he suffered ill-health.
Speaking on Saturday during the 20th anniversary of Kudirat Abiola’s death, Jamiu appeared to infer that his father might not have died in detention, if the former Head of State had released him early enough.
Abiola, who won the June 12, 1993, presidential election, died in detention on July 7, 1998 under the regime of Abdusalsami while his wife Kudirat was assassinated on June 4, 1996, by suspected state officials under the Sani Abacha regime.
Jamiu further noted that the people who worked against the enthronement of democracy during the post-June 12 struggle had become ‘heroes’ in the country.
“Somebody like the former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, who refused to release the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Abiola) or saw to it that the president died in detention.”
“A day before he (Abiola) died, he complained that he had malaria for more than a month and the government did not attend to him.”
“The president (Abdulsalami) knew he was very sick but he did not do anything (to salvage the situation). At the end of the day, the country’s president-elect – my father – died.”
Jamiu added that it is hypocritical for the Nigerian government to recognise Abdulsalami as a hero and an adviser to the Federal Government.
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