Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has revealed that he rejected an offer of political asylum from the United States during the military regime of the late General Sani Abacha, despite warnings that he would be arrested if he returned to Nigeria.
Obasanjo disclosed this in a video published by BBC News Pidgin on Tuesday, while recounting his experience under Abacha’s government.
He said the American ambassador to Nigeria had informed him that the US government was willing to grant him political asylum because of concerns over his possible arrest on returning home.
However, Obasanjo said he declined the offer, insisting that he had committed no offence to warrant fleeing the country.He said he eventually returned to Nigeria and was arrested.
The former president also recalled that he ventured into farming after retiring from the Nigerian Army at the age of 42, having attained the rank of a four-star general and served as military Head of State between 1976 and 1979.
According to him, his farming business was progressing until Abacha seized power in November 1993 and his government moved against him.
Obasanjo said he was returning to his farm when a security operative informed him that government forces had surrounded the premises.
He was later approached by a police officer in mufti, who informed him that an Assistant Inspector-General of Police wanted to see him.
He initially rejected the invitation, insisting that the AIG should come to the farm if he wanted to see him. However, he eventually drove to the police station, where he was informed that the officer had been directed to arrest him.
Obasanjo further disclosed that former United States President Jimmy Carter intervened by appealing to Abacha, an intervention that initially resulted in his being placed under house arrest.
He, however, said security operatives later took him away during a midnight operation while he was playing squash at about 1am, eventually leading to his imprisonment.He served two terms in office before leaving power in May 2007.
