Major Seun Fadipe (retd.), a former Chief Security Officer (CSO) to the late Lt. Gen. Oladipo Diya, has revealed how the late Head of State, General Sani Abacha, narrowly avoided an abduction plot in Enugu State in 1997.
Fadipe, who served under Diya, the Chief of General Staff and de facto vice president during Abacha’s military regime, made this disclosure during an appearance on Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, a Channels Television programme, on Friday.
He recounted how Diya and his associates had allegedly planned to abduct Abacha during a scheduled trip to Enugu and compel him to resign. However, the plan was foiled when Abacha abruptly cancelled the trip after receiving intelligence about the conspiracy.
The Failed Plot
“There was a coup,” Fadipe explained. “Whether it was a phantom or a setup is immaterial now. That was the problem I had with my boss until his death. I was a major, and if I had intended to be involved in a coup, it would have been a violent one. But I got entangled in the situation because of my boss.”
According to Fadipe, Abacha’s planned visit to Enugu for the Chief of Army Training Conference on December 9, 1997, was abruptly cancelled, despite his advance team already being at the airport.
“On the morning of December 9, after briefing my boss, he asked if all was well. Later that day, Abacha left the Villa for the airport but returned unexpectedly. My boss was worried, and I advised him to stay on standby, thinking Abacha might still travel, but he never did,” Fadipe recalled.
The former CSO revealed that the next day, Diya confided in him and his security team, saying, “If Oga had travelled yesterday, he would have been arrested, forced to resign, and there would have been a change of government.”
Fallout of the Failed Coup
In the aftermath of the failed plot, Fadipe and over 200 others were arrested and detained for treason. Diya was sentenced to death by a military tribunal, but the sentence was commuted after the sudden death of Abacha in 1998. His successor, General Abdusalami Abubakar, granted Diya and others a pardon.
Reflecting on his ordeal, Fadipe denied betraying Diya, despite allegations to the contrary. “There was no way I would have betrayed my boss. After our release, he tried to malign me, but I understood he was just struggling to survive,” he said.
Lt. Gen. Diya, who died in March 2023 at the age of 78, played a significant role during the turbulent military era, a period that remains a critical chapter in Nigeria’s history.