How ‘Amala’ Made Me Escape Abacha’s Killers-President Tinubu
LAGOS JUNE 13TH (NEWSRANGERS)-Nigerians celebrated Democracy Day yesterday. A day set aside to mark the annulment of June 12, 1993 presidential election, won by the late Chief MKO Abiola. One of those in the trenches to actualize the mandate then was Asiwaju Bola Tinubu of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO). He is now the President. Tinubu would have lost his life in Cotonou because of the struggles, but his generosity and love for amala saved his life.
That time, the late General Sani Abacha who usurped power after the annulment, went gaga! Abacha paraded many assassins sans borders! He sent his assassins after pro-democracy activists. Many lost their lives in the process. Abacha sent his killers to the Republic of Benin in one of those expeditions.
In an interview with TheNEWS, Tinubu narrated what happened: “I didn’t have a passport and couldn’t have been able to travel. At a stage, they discovered our routes, because they had spies all over, including Benin Republic. Twice I was caught and I fortuitously escaped. They traced me to one dingy hotel I was hiding.
“The day they came for me at the hotel, I had gone out on an Okada to buy amala at a market, where Yorubas are dominant. I was also to meet Akinrinade and the rest of them. The spies went to the hotel and as I was approaching, I saw two people wearing tajia (skull caps) at the front desk, asking questions. The man attending to them at the reception (I had been very nice to the receptionist) winked to me and I turned back.
“I contacted a friend in Benin Republic, who was an architect, and had very strong sympathy for us. Professor Wole Soyinka and Alani Akinrinade, who lodged in a better hotel, were fortunate to have escaped that night, too. The people on their trail pursued them to the hotel, but fortunately missed them.”
PM NEWS
Short URL: https://newsrangers.com/?p=109685
Posted by News Rangers
on Jun 13 2023. Filed under National.
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