*Obasanjo |
Former President Olusegun
Obasanjo has disclosed that he left prison broke in 1998, after he was released
by former Head of State, General Abdusalami Abubakar following the death of
General Sani Abacha, then head of state on June 8, 1998. Obasanjo, who claimed he had
no money by the time he regained his freedom after serving in Kirikiri, Jos and
Yola prisons for about four years however revealed that the Ford Foundation and
the founder of the Cable News Network (CNN), Mr. Ted Turner, surprisingly gave
him a lifeline through the sum of $150,000 that was donated to him and which
enabled him to settle the tuition fees of his children, whose studies were
almost truncated by his incarceration.
The former president, who
shared agonising memories of his prison experience at a recent programme
organised by Christ The Redeemer’s Friends International (CRFI) of the Redeemed
Christian Church of God at the Intercontinental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos , however revealed
how he became born again in prison and won souls for Christ. Obasanjo was sentenced to life
jail in 1995 by the Abacha junta after he was tried by a military court on
trumped-up charges of felony and conspiracy to overthrow the Abacha government,
an allegation the former president denied with evidence.
But exactly one week after Abacha passed away on June 8, 1998
under unclear circumstances, Obasanjo was released from the Yola Prison by the
administration of Abubakar.
Giving the testimony on how God rescued him from Abacha’s plot to inject him with viral poison at the fellowship recently, Obasanjo said he was broke immediately after he regained his freedom from the Yola Prison, revealing that he had no cash at that time to settle the tuition fees of his children, who were studying in the
Before he left the Yola Prison, Obasanjo said he resolved “to live a new life – quiet, peaceful and possibly private. But it was surprising when I got to the airport; a presidential aircraft was already waiting for me. I did not believe it. When I arrived
Shortly after he returned home, Obasanjo said he decided “to travel to the