Nigeria: Update to NGA31232.E of 9 February 1999 on the fate of those said to be involved in the alleged coup plot of December 1997; whether the government is still seeking anyone, or their family members, said to have been involved in the alleged coup plot

Please see NGA31550.E of 1 April 1999 and NGA31599.E of 8 April 1999 for reports of the release from prison of those convicted for involvement in the alleged coup plot of December 1997.

On 10 June 1999 NTA Television Network reported an announcement by the Ministry of Justice in the Federal Gazette that "convicts of the 1995 coup plot" had been granted pardon and that there had been a "withdrawl of charges against those involved in previous coups and declared wanted by the Nigeria police."

On 15 March 1999 Nigeria News Network reported that the government was considering the restoration of military rank to former chief of general staff Oladipo Diya and others convicted for participation in the alleged coup plot. However, the Chief of Defence Staff was reported to have indicated that "since it was a military court that found them guilty and subsequently convicted the officers, a due process of court-martial would be followed to reconsider their cases." He was also reported to have said that "since the coupists had been punished appropriately and government in its magnanimity decided to give them clemency or pardon, they should not be expected to go with everything" (ibid.). Further to this:

The deputy national chairman of the People's Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Aminu Bashir Wali, has stated categorically that the incoming civilian administration to be headed by General Olusegun Obasanjo would not restore the ranks of former Chief-of-General Staff, Lt. Gen. Oladipo Diya and other recently freed coup convicts without due recourse to the rule of law.

Wali also observed that if they feel aggrieved they are free and legally entitled to seek redress in the court against the decision of the federal government to strip them of their ranks (Nigeria News Network 17 Mar. 1999b).

In another 17 March 1999(a) report, Nigeria News Network refers to efforts by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Peoples Party to engage Oladipo Diya in party activities and refers to reports from P.M.News that "power brokers in the parties have been taking credit for the release of the coupists."

On 28 April 1999 Nigeria News Network reported that Oladipo Diya had gone to London for medical treatment and that "it is unclear if Diya's trip to London had received the blessing of the military regime following the regime's orders to all pardoned coup convicts not to step out of the states in which they are domiciled until otherwise told to do so."

In further information on the status of some of those convicted, and then released, for participation in the alleged coup of December 1997 there are reports that Diya and 14 others "have forfeited their assets" (NTA Television Network 10 June 1999; Nigeria News Network 14 June 1999). The forfeiture was reported to have been "in line with the terms of clemency granted to them" and was contained in an announcement pertaining to "the benefits accruable to former heads of state and presidents" (ibid.; NTA Television Network 10 June 1999). The benefits for former chiefs of general staff include a monthly stipend of 250,000 naira (ibid.).

In a 25 March 1999 report in the Post Express, the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) criticized a statement by Nigeria's Attorney General that no political prisoners remained in custody. The CDHR "made available a comprehensive list of 46 people who are still being detained" under Decree 2, which included Lieutenant-Colonel I.A. Yakassai who remained in custody despite the release of other "coup convicts." Amnesty International reported the continued detention of Lieutenant-Colonel Ibrahim Yakassai on 31 March 1999 and said that he "was under investigation for giving press interviews from prison. He is reported to have alleged the complicity of former government officials in the unexplained death in custody in December 1997 of prisoner of conscience retired Major-General Shehu Musa Yar'Adua, deputy head of state from 1976 to 1979 and a leading political figure in northern Nigeria" (ibid.). Amnesty International states that "the legal status of his continued detention is unclear" and that "no charges have been brought against him."

In further information on Lieutenant-Colonel Yakassai, Nigeria News Network reported on 19 April 1999:

Head of State General Abdulsalami Abubakar has washed his hands off the case of Major Al-Mustapha and Col. Yakassai who were detained since last year for their roles in the late Gen. Sani Abacha regime.

This is due to the report submitted by his Chief Security Adviser, Major-Gen. Abdulahi Mohammed (retd.) to the PRC meeting in Abuja which had reportedly cleared Mustapha and the others of the allegations levelled against them.

Sources informed P.M. News this morning that Mohammed wrote that he found no evidence to substantiate the allegations against them.

It was learnt that General Abubakar wanted to release all the  detainees including Yakassai and Mustapha during the first day of the PRC meeting on Monday but the Inspector-General of Police Alhaji Ibrahim Coomasie and Major-General Ishaya Bamaiyi the Chief of Army Staff strongly opposed their release.

Consequently, General Abubakar passed the case to the Inspector General of Police.

Yakassai and Mustapha who played ignoble roles during the evil regime of late tyrant, General Sani Abacha, were arrested last year following the death of Abacha 8 June.

Post Express also has information on this subject and referred to investigations by the police "into the alleged crimes perpetrated by Mustapha," former Chief Security Officer to General Abacha:

The probe, it was learnt, followed the prison memoirs of detained Lt. Col. Ibrahim Yakassai, medical doctor and commander of the elite security apparatus in Aso Rock known as the Strike Force during the regime of the late Abacha.

In the memoirs, published by a weekly magazine in Nigeria, the detained doctor made some chilling revelations on the serial bombings in the country and the brutal murder of Pa Alfred Rewane and Kudirat Abiola, wife of the multi-millionaire and acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, the late Chief M.K.O. Abiola.

After the publication of the memoirs, a Special Investigation Panel (SIP) was set up by the military to look into the activities of those mentioned during the regime of Abacha, particularly Mustapha, Frank Omenka, former head of the security group of the Directorate of Military Intelligence and former director of the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI), Brigadier-General Ibrahim Sabo. But after a thorough investigation, the panel headed by the Army Provost Marshal, Brigadier General Abdullahi Yusuff, left the rest off the hook except Mustapha, who was referred to the police for further investigation (5 May 1999).

On 21 May 1999, Post Express stated that "Mustapha is still being held following allegations of civil crimes contained in an interview allegedly granted to a news magazine by the jailed Col. Ibrahim Yakassai, which required further clarification." In a 21 May 1999 article from the Nigeria News Network, General Abubakar is reported have said that Yakassai was still being held and that investigations were continuing. On 5 July 1999 Post Express reported that both men remained in custody and that El-Mustapha had filed suit against the government for his continued detention. Post Express reported that the new president has "yet to make a public statement on the two detainees" (ibid.).

In other reports related to those reported linked to the alleged coup of December 1997, in a 30 March 1999 comment in The Guardian the writer alleges that "the president-elect, who is yet to be sworn in, has already started ordering surveillance on the recently released coup convicts." Colonel Daniel Akintonde was one of those initially arrested for involvement in the December 1997 alleged coup (see NGA29334.E of 25 May 1998) and then later reported to have returned to his post at the Nigerian Defence Academy (see NGA30594.E of 27 November 1998). Post Express reports that he was among 93 military officers who were retired by President Obasanjo as "part of the ongoing purge of the nation's highly politicised armed forces" (12 June 1999). In a press briefing the retirements were said to have been "carried out as a deterrent to military officers plotting coup or accepting political appointments after any successful coup-d'état" and were described as part of the new government's efforts to "depoliticise the military from political hang-over as well as re-orienting them to submit to constituted civil authority" (ibid.).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References

Amnesty International. 31 March 1999. Nigeria: Releases of Political Prisoners - Questions Remain About Past Human Rights Violations. (AI Index: AFR 44/01/99). London: Amnesty International.

The Guardian [Lagos, in English]. 30 March 1999. Sylvester Odion-Akhaine. "Nigeria: Rights Leader Reflects on Nigerian Democracy." (FBIS-AFR-1999-0408 30 Mar. 1999/WNC)

Nigeria News Network. 14 June 1999. "FG Confiscates Diya, Adisa, Others' Property."

_____. 21 May 1999. "Why Looters Were Not Tried, by Abubakar."

_____. 28 April 1999. "Diya Hospitalized in London."

_____. 19 April 1999. "No Freedom for Mustapha, Yakassai."

_____. 17 March 1999a. "Parties Lobby Diya and Co."

_____. 17 March 1999b. "Coup Convicts: Obasanjo Won't Restore Ranks."

_____. 15 March 1999. "FG May Restore Diya, Others' Ranks."

NTA Television Network [Lagos, in English]. 10 June 1999. "Nigeria: Special Remuneration Package for Former Leaders." (FBIS-AFR-1999-0611 10 June 1999/WNC)

Post Express [Lagos]. 5 July 1999. "Mustapha, Abacha's CSO, Sues FG." [Accessed 14 July 1999]

_____. 12 June 1999. Philip Nwosu and Osborne Adi Jnr. "FG Retires all Ex-Military Governors, Ministers, Others." [Accessed 14 July 1999]

_____. 21 May 1999. Josiah Emerol. "Resist Future Coups, Abubakar Tells Nigerians." [Accessed 14 July 1999]

_____. 5 May 1999. Sisaa Agbo. "Mustapha Denies Plotting to Overthrow Abubakar." [Accessed 14 July 1999]

_____. 25 March 1999. Ikechukwu Eze. "CDHR Faults Attorney General's Claim." [Accessed 14 July 1999]