Former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (retd.), has revealed that he was locked inside a room at the Presidential Villa for more than an hour on the day General Sani Abacha died in June 1998, in what he described as one of the most dramatic moments in Nigeria’s political history.
The revelation is contained in his autobiography, Call of Duty, which is scheduled to be unveiled in Abuja on Saturday as part of activities marking his 84th birthday.
In the book, Abdulsalami recounted that he received an early morning call on June 8, 1998, informing him that Abacha wanted to see him urgently. At the time, he feared he was about to be assigned another foreign trip, particularly to an ECOWAS summit in Togo, a responsibility he frequently handled as the regime’s de facto second-in-command following the detention of Lt.-Gen. Oladipo Diya over an alleged coup plot.
According to him, a second call stressing the urgency of the meeting prompted him to leave for the Presidential Villa without wearing his military uniform. Dressed instead in a tracksuit and slippers, he headed to Abacha’s residence expecting a routine audience with the Head of State.
However, upon arrival, he was directed to wait in a room and informed that Abacha was in his office. Abdulsalami said the development immediately struck him as unusual because he normally enjoyed direct access to the military ruler regardless of who was meeting with him.
After waiting for about 30 minutes, he became concerned. His unease deepened when Major-General Ishaya Bamaiyi joined him in the waiting room. The two officers remained there for another hour before Abdulsalami decided to seek answers.
His attempt to leave the room led to a startling discovery.
“To my greatest surprise, the door of the waiting room had been locked,” he wrote, adding that he asked Bamaiyi whether he was aware that they had been confined inside. Though he sensed something was wrong, he said he could not immediately understand what was happening.
The mystery was eventually resolved when the then Inspector-General of Police, Alhaji Ibrahim Coomassie, opened the door and asked the officers to accompany him. As they walked toward the residence, Coomassie informed Abdulsalami that Abacha had died.
The former military ruler said he was stunned by the news and demanded an explanation, but the police chief declined to provide details at the time.
Upon reaching the residence, Abdulsalami insisted on seeing Abacha’s body. He said he entered the room where the late Head of State lay, removed the covering over the body, prayed for him and quietly left.
While he did not identify those responsible for locking him in the room, Abdulsalami suggested in the autobiography that some military officers may have been pursuing alternative plans as the power struggle that followed Abacha’s sudden death unfolded.
Later that day, members of the Provisional Ruling Council (PRC) selected Abdulsalami as Nigeria’s new Head of State.
His emergence marked a turning point in the country’s political history. Unlike previous military administrations, Abdulsalami initiated a rapid transition programme that culminated in the restoration of democratic rule. Less than a year later, he handed over power to a civilian government led by former President Olusegun Obasanjo on May 29, 1999.
The autobiography offers fresh insights into the uncertainty, intrigue and manoeuvring that surrounded the final hours of the Abacha regime and the transition that followed.