Lasun Alagbe
One of the sons of the late General Sanni Abacha, Sadiq, has said that there must be a reason monies stolen by his father, which are being repatriated were kept there.
Various governments have, since 1999, received funds stolen by Abacha, who was a military dictator between 1993 and 98.
The Buhari government recently received over $300m of such from the United States.
But speaking in an interview with BBC, Sadiq expressed the belief that there must be reason the monies were stated away, although he did not give details.
“We hear the report just as others used to hear. But there are reasons why the money was kept, there are some politicians. Definitely, I’m not happy,” he said.
He also lamented that many of his father’s friends and associates had since abandoned the family, singling out a few, including the Ibrahim Babangida family.
“We relate well with the Babangida family, ” he said.
He added, “Most of my father’s friends abandoned us after my father’s demise.
“Our present relationship with some of our late father’s friends is surprising. We exchange pleasantries with the family of General Babangida. We are in good terms.
“It is only with members of the Babangida family that whenever we meet, we associate and share stories.
“We also relate well, with family members of President Muhammadu Buhari. But it’s only with the Babangida’s that we recall the past.
“When Yayale Ahmed was Secretary of the Government of the Federation, he helped us and the travel ban on our family was lifted.”
Sadiq also lamented that security agents still harass the family members especially at airports:
“We went to the security agency, they even gave us a clearance paper. But even before this lockdown that I travelled to Dubai, I was still interrogated at the Airport.
“Up till date, I’m always interrogated at the airports anytime I’m travelling. They always say our names are still in the black book.
“We’ve been to the security agency and they have issued us with a clearance paper. That our names have been removed from the black book.
“But nothing has changed. I’m always harassed whenever I’m going out or coming into the country. I don’t know where to go and be listened to. It should’ve been a security agency, but I was there.
“Nothing has changed. Even recently, before this lockdown, I was interrogated when I returned from Dubai,” he said.
Meanwhile, enjoy this poetic tribute to Wole Soyinka:
