How I Stopped Kirikiri Inmates from attacking Obasanjo in 1995- Senator makes revelations
During a lecture in Abuja on Thursday, Shehu Sani, the former senator representing Kaduna central, shared a remarkable anecdote about his experience in 1995, when he intervened to protect former President Olusegun Obasanjo from potential assault by fellow inmates at Kirikiri Maximum Security prison.
Obasanjo, who served as Nigeria’s head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later returned as civilian president from 1999 to 2007, had been arrested under allegations of plotting a coup during the military regime of Sani Abacha (1993-1998).
Alongside Shehu Sani and Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, he was detained and subsequently transferred to Kirikiri prison.
Recalling the tense atmosphere, Sani recounted that upon seeing Obasanjo, some inmates described as “armed robbers” began shouting insults towards the former president.
Sani added that he “talked to the inmates to calm down, that no matter their grievances with Obasanjo, he was now an inmate.
“In 1995, a team of soldiers, policemen and DSS visited my house in Kaduna. It was a journey that began and lasted for four years.
“I was picked up from Kaduna and brought to Lagos with the late General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua. From the airport, we were led to the DSS headquarters, where we met President Olusegun Obasanjo.
“Unfairly from the soldiers, they handcuffed me but did not do so for Obasanjo or Yar’Adua. Obasanjo looked at me and asked me who I was and if I had stolen something for them to have handcuffed me. I told him I was an activist.
“I was then the deputy chairman of the Campaign for Democracy. We were taken to Kirikiri Maximum Prison. We stayed there without anybody saying anything to us. When we arrived at Kirikiri, we were given a blanket and a plate of food.
“We were then allocated our cells. When the armed robbers there saw Obasanjo, they started shouting and insulting him.
“Naturally, for those of us who were human rights activists, we were popular with inmates. I told him, ‘You are a commander outside, but this is where I command’. I then I talked to the inmates to calm down, that no matter their grievances with Obasanjo, he was now an inmate.
“I got 15 years, Obasanjo got 15 years, Yar’Adua got life imprisonment. Those of us from the north were sent to southern prisons and those from the south were sent to northern prisons. That was how I found myself in Port Harcourt prison.
“I was in Port Harcourt prison when Ken Saro-Wiwa was brought in and hanged. I could see them from the window.”
