Major Hamza Al Mustapha was the Chief Security Officer of
Gen. Sani Abacha, former Nigeria military head of state from November 1993 to
his death in June 1998. In this write-up, he narrates the last moments of the
late Sani Abacha.
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| Major Hamza Al Mustapha |
“When I got to the bedside of the Head of State, he was already gasping.
Ordinarily, I could not just touch him. It was not allowed in our job. But
under the situation on ground, I knelt close to him and shouted, “General Sani
Abacha, Sir, please grant me permission to touch and carry you.” Contrary to
insinuations, speculations and sad rumours initiated by some sections of the
society, I maintain that the sudden collapse of the health system of the late
Head of State started previous day (Sunday, 7th June, 1998) right from the
Abuja International Airport immediately after one of the white security
operatives or personnel who accompanied President Yasser Arafat of Palestine
shook hands with him (General Abacha) I had noticed the change in the
countenance of the late Commander-in-Chief and informed the Aide-de-Camp, Lt.
Col. Abdallah, accordingly. He, however, advised that we keep a close watch on
the Head of State. Later in the evening of 8th June, 1998, around 6p.m; his
doctor came around, administered an injection to stabilize him. He was advised
to have a short rest. Happily, enough, by 9p.m; the Head of State was bouncing
and receiving visitors until much later when General Jeremiah Timbut Useni, the
then Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, came calling. He was fond of
the Head of State. They were very good friends. They stayed and chatted
together till about 3.35a.m. A friend of the house was with me in my office and
as he was bidding me farewell, he came back to inform me that the FCT Minister,
General Useni was out of the Head of State’s Guest House within the Villa. I
then decided to inform the ADC and other security boys that I would be on my
way home to prepare for the early morning event at the International Conference
Centre. At about 5a.m; the security guards ran to my quarters to inform me that
the Head of State was very unstable. At first, I thought it was a coup attempt.
Immediately, I prepared myself fully for any eventuality. As an intelligence
officer and the Chief Security Officer to the Head of State for that matter, I
devised a means of diverting the attention of the security boys from my escape
route by asking my wife to continue chatting with them at the door – she was in
the house while the boys were outside. From there, I got to the Guest House of
the Head of State before them. When I got to the bedside of the Head of State,
he was already gasping. Ordinarily, I could not just touch him. It was not
allowed in our job. But under the situation on ground, I knelt close to him and
shouted, “General Sani Abacha, Sir, please grant me permission to touch and
carry you.” I again knocked at the stool beside the bed and shouted in the same
manner, yet he did not respond. I then realized there was a serious danger. I
immediately called the Head of State’s personal physician, Dr. Wali, who
arrived the place under eight minutes from his house. He immediately gave Oga –
General Abacha – two doses of injection, one at the heart and another close to
his neck. This did not work apparently as the Head of State had turned very
cold. He then told me that the Head of State was dead and nothing could be done
after all. I there and then asked the personal physician to remain with the
dead body while I dashed home to be fully prepared for the problems that might
arise from the incident. As soon as I informed my wife, she collapsed and burst
into tears. I secured my house and then ran back. At that point, the
Aide-de-Camp had been contacted by me and we decided that great caution must be
taken in handling the grave situation. Again, I must reiterate that the issue of
my Boss dying on top of women was a great lie just as the insinuation that
General Sani Abacha ate and died of poisoned apples was equally a wicked lie.
My question is: did Chief M.K.O Abiola die of poisoned apples or did he die on
top of women? As I had stated at the Oputa Panel, their deaths were organized.
Pure and simple! It was at this point that I used our special communication
gadgets to diplomatically invite the Service Chiefs, Military Governors and
some few elements purportedly to a meeting with the Head of State by 9a.m. at
the Council Chamber. That completed, I also decided to talk to some former
leaders of the nation to inform them that General Sani Abacha would like to
meet them by 9a.m. Situation became charged however, when one of the Service
Chiefs, Lieutenant General Ishaya Rizi Bamaiyi, who pretended to be with us,
suggested he be made the new Head of State after we had quietly informed him of
the death of General Sani Abacha. He even suggested we should allow him access
to Chief Abiola. We smelt a rat and other heads of security agencies, on
hearing this, advised I move Chief Abiola to a safer destination. I managed to
do this in spite of the fact that I had been terribly overwhelmed with the
crisis at hand. But then, when some junior officers over-heard the suggestion
of one of the Service Chiefs earlier mentioned, it was suggested to me that we
should finish all the members of the Provisional Ruling Council and give the
general public an excuse that there was a meeting of the PRC during which a
shoot-out occurred between some members of the Provisional Ruling Council and
the Body Guards to the Head of State When I sensed that we would be contending
with far more delicate issues than the one on ground, I talked to Generals Buba
Marwa and Ibrahim Sabo who both promptly advised us – the junior officers –
against any bloodshed. They advised we contact General Ibrahim Babangida
(former Military President) who equally advised against any bloodshed but that
we should support the most senior officer in the Provisional Ruling Council
(PRC) to be the new Head of State. Since the words of our elders are words of
wisdom, we agreed to support General Jeremiah Useni. Along the line, General
Bamaiyi lampooned me saying, “Can’t you put two and two together to be four?
Has it not occurred to you that General Useni who was the last man with the
Head of State might have poisoned him, knowing full well that he was the most
senior officer in the PRC?” Naturally, I became furious with General Useni
since General Abacha’s family had earlier on complained severally about the
closeness of the two Generals; at that, a decision was taken to storm General
Useni’s house with almost a battalion of soldiers to effect his arrest. Again,
some heads of security units and agencies, including my wife, advised against
the move. The next most senior person and officer in government was General
Abdulsalami Abubakar, who was then the Chief of Defence Staff. We rejected the
other Service Chief, who, we believed, was too ambitious and destructive. We
settled for General Abubakar and about six of us called him inside a room in
the Head of State’s residence to break the news of the death of General Abacha
to him. As a General with vast experience, Abdulsalami Abubakar, humbly
requested to see and pray for the soul of General Abacha which we allowed. Do
we consider this a mistake? Because right there, he – Abubakar – went and sat
on the seat of the late Head of State. Again, I was very furious. Like I said
at the Oputa Panel, if caution was not applied, I would have gunned him down.
The revolution the boys were yearning for would have started right there. The
assumption that we could not have succeeded in the revolution was a blatant
lie. We were in full control of the State House and the Brigade of Guards. We
had loyal troops in Keffi and in some other areas surrounding the seat of
government – Abuja. But I allowed peace to reign because we believed it would
create further crises in the country. We followed the advice of General Ibrahim
Badamasi Babangida and the wise counsel of some loyal senior officers and
jointly agreed that General Abdulsalami Abubakar be installed Head of State,
Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces immediately after the burial of
General Sani Abacha in Kano. It is an irony of history that the same Service
Chief who wanted to be Head of State through bloodshed, later instigated the
new members of the Provisional Ruling Council against us and branded us
killers, termites and all sorts of hopeless names. They planned, arranged our
arrest, intimidation and subsequent jungle trial in 1998 and 1999. These, of
course, led to our terrible condition in several prisons and places of
confinement.
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