How Abacha Escaped Diya’s Alleged Abduction Plot – Ex-CSO Reveals

Former Chief Security Officer to late General Sani Abacha has revealed how the former Head of State narrowly escaped an abduction plot allegedly orchestrated by Lt. Gen. Oladipo Diya.

Major Seun Fadipe (retd), who served as the Chief Security Officer to the late Lt-Gen Oladipo Diya, has shared a story about how General Sani Abacha, the former military Head of State, evaded an attempted abduction in Enugu State back in 1997.

Fadipe served as the Chief Security Officer to Diya, who was the Chief of General Staff and effectively Nigeria’s vice president during Abacha’s military regime. He appeared as a guest on Friday’s episode of “Inside Sources with Laolu Akande,” a socio-political program broadcast on Channels Television.

Fadipe recounted how Diya and his associates devised a plan to abduct Abacha and compel him to resign in Enugu. However, the then head of state became aware of their scheme and canceled the trip at the last moment.

He stated, “There was a coup. Whether it turned out to be imaginary or orchestrated is irrelevant now; that issue persisted with my boss until his passing. As a major, if I had intended to participate in any coup, it would have been violent since executing a palace coup wasn’t feasible given the many senior officers above me. I never planned nor did I aim to plan any coups—I became involved only through my boss.”

“At that point, Abacha was doing well; however, his attempt to transition to a civilian regime caused things to go awry.”

Fadipe mentioned that it would have been straightforward for Diya and his fellow coup plotters to seize control in Abuja, managing the situation from the nation’s capital. However, “perhaps it was simply providence or Abacha received some information because all of his advance teams had already gone to the airport,” yet he canceled the trip at the very last moment.

On December 9, 1997, we arrived at the office. After exchanging pleasantries with my boss, the ADC departed. Once they left, I proceeded to give my boss the security briefing for that period. Afterwards, he asked me directly: “Are you sure all is well?” This was before the bomb attempt on December 13th of that year and marked the first time he hinted that something significant might be underway.

The day prior, the Chief of Army Training Conference had just started in Enugu, and as the C-in-C, Abacha was expected to inaugurate the event. He left the Villa en route to the airport but unexpectedly returned midway through his journey.

After a while, my boss contacted me to let me know that the man had canceled his trip and returned to the villa. My boss seemed somewhat concerned, though I wasn’t sure why at the time. I suggested we remain on standby in case he decided to leave again; however, much to my surprise, that never happened.

In the evening, Ishaya Bamiyi, who was the army chief at that time, visited General Diya’s office. We were puzzled about why the chief of army staff was there instead of being in Enugu as expected. After Bamiyi departed, my boss asked me to call him and requested I get in touch with General Adisa Adisa.

By that time, Adisa had been dismissed from his role as the Minister of Works and Housing. I contacted General Adisa, who arrived almost immediately; this time, he was nearly in civilian attire. As he was leaving, he asked me a few questions but realized that I wasn’t aware of the details.

The following morning, my boss informed a few security personnel and me: “If Oga had traveled yesterday, he would have been arrested, leading to a change in government.” I immediately realized that I was in trouble. He added that if Abacha had gone to Enugu, he would have been kidnapped and compelled to resign, resulting in a governmental shift.

Fadipe insisted that he did not betray his former boss, emphasizing that he never revealed any of the coup plans to the authorities.

“There was absolutely no chance that I would have betrayed my boss. After we were released from detention, a lot of events unfolded; he attempted to discredit me and so forth, but I simply understood him as someone who was fighting to make ends meet,” he said.

Fadipe and Diya, along with more than 200 individuals, were arrested for treason following a failed coup attempt in 1997. Diya faced trial by a military tribunal and was sentenced to death but later received a pardon from Abdusalami Abubakar, who succeeded Abacha after his unexpected death in 1998; Fadipe and others were also pardoned then. In March 2023, Diya passed away at the age of 78.