Obasanjo reveals Abacha plotted his elimination, recounts 1990s arrest in new BBC video

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, in a BBC video published today, discloses that late military ruler Sani Abacha wanted him "liquidated" to have his way. Obasanjo retired as military Head of State at 42 in 1979, went into farming, and was arrested in the 1990s after the U.S. ambassador warned him Abacha's regime planned to detain him — offering political asylum which Obasanjo declined.

Returning to Nigeria, Obasanjo found his farm surrounded by security. Plainclothes officers ("mufti") arrived at his gate, claiming the Assistant Inspector General of Police wanted his "help." Obasanjo drove himself to the station where the AIG confirmed: "I have been instructed to arrest you." Obasanjo says he didn't know Abacha had decided certain people "must not be kept free."

This revelation underscores the lethal intolerance of the Abacha regime toward perceived rivals, even a former Head of State. It adds first-hand testimony to documented abuses of that era — extrajudicial killings, phantom coups, and the silencing of dissent.

The BBC video is part of a series on Nigeria's political history. Watching it provides fuller context on how personal vendettas shaped national trauma.

What does Obasanjo's survival — and eventual return as elected president — tell us about the resilience of Nigeria's democratic institutions versus individual fortunes?

SOURCE: https://dailypost.ng/2026/11/10/abacha-wanted-to-liquidate-me-obasanjo-narrates-how-he-was-arrested/