Dictators of Africa Series: General Sani Abacha (Nigeria)
A Kanuri man from Borno state, General Sani Abacha was Born in Kano, Nigeria.
In 1993, Abacha became the de facto leader of Nigeria after he was put in to power by former military ruler Ibrahim Babaginda, following Babaginda’s annulment of the 1993 Presidential Elections - the first since the 1983 military coup, also considered the freest and most democratic elections in the country since then - where the results declared Social Democratic Party candidate Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola (MKO Abiola) as the winner.
This annulment caused massive uproar from the Nigerian population. Despite that, Abacha took his place as the de facto leader of the country - a title which he held until 1998.
During his near five year presidency, Abacha’s government carried out various human rights abuses, most notably the hanging of Ogoni human rights activist Ken Saro-Wiwa in 1995. Both MKO Abiola and former president Olusegun Obasanjo were jailed for treason, and Nobel Prize winner Wole Soyinka was charged for treason in absentia.
In a bid to vehemently hold on to power, Abacha deterred any form opposition by controlling the press and the military, and banning any political activity. Despite his autocratic rule in Nigeria, Abacha sent out ECOWAS troops to both Liberia and Sierra Leone in a bid to restore democracy in those countries.
Despite being repeatedly condemned by the U.S. State Department, Abacha did have a few ties to American politics. In 1997, Senator James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) traveled to Nigeria to meet with Abacha as a representative of “The Family”, a group of evangelical Christian politicians and civic leaders. Abacha and The Family had a business and political relationship from that point until his death.
Apart from human rights abuses, Abacha was involved in corruption with a total of £5 billion was reported siphoned out of the country’s coffers by the head of state and members of his family. during this time, Abacha was listed as the fourth most corrupt leader in the world.
Abacha died in 1998 at the presidential villa in Abuja and was buried the same day in accordance with Muslim customs and no autopsy was performed. The lack of an official death inquiry led to many speculations of foul-play. At the time of his death, it is known that he was in the company of six teenage Indian prostitutes imported from Dubai who many accuse of poisoning him, perhaps on someone else’s behalf.
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