Chief Security Officer the late Head of State General Sanni Abacha, Hamza Al-Mustapha, has revealed how he and other young officers contemplated killing top military officers when his boss died suddenly.
According to him, they wanted to kill members of the Provisional Ruling Council to pave the way for what they though would be solution to the looming logjam occasioned by the death.
In an interview with ‘ThisDay’, Al-Mustapha, who was notorious for his alleged role in the scheming and violence that characterised Abacha’s junta, said: “I must reiterate that the issue of my boss dying on women was a great lie just as the insinuation that Abacha ate and died of poisoned apple was equally a wicked lie.
“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 9 a.m. at the Council Chamber.
“That completed, I also decided to talk to some former Nigerian leaders to inform them that Abacha would like to meet them by 9 a.m.
“The situation became charged when one of the Service Chiefs, Lieutenant General Ishaya Rizi Bamaiyi (rtd), 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 Abacha. He even suggested we should allow him access to Chief MKO Abiola.
“We smelt a rat, and other heads of security agencies, on hearing this, advised I move Abiola to a safer place. 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 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 (all retired), who both promptly advised us-the junior officers- against any bloodshed. They advised we contact General Ibrahim Babangida, 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, Bamaiyi lampooned me, saying: ‘Can’t you put two and two together to be four? Has it not occurred to you that Useni, who was the last man with the Head of State, might have poisoned him, knowing well that he was the most senior officer in the PRC?”
Al-Mustapha said it was untrue that Abacha died after eating some apple or having sex with some women.
He said his crisis, instead, began after having a handshake with the Palestine leader, Yasser Arafat.
