By Femi Falana
On June 12, 1994, Chief M. K.O. Abiola declared himself President on the basis of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, which he won fair and square. General Sani Abacha’s military junta arrested him and charged him with treasonable felony at the Federal High Court.
While he was held incommunicado in a military custody for 4 years, Chief Abiola was subjected to horrendous psychological and mental torture. Even though Chief Abiola had severe health challenges, he was denied medical attention by the maximum dictator.
His parlous medical state was confirmed on April 27, 1998 by Archbishop Desmond Tutu who had visited Nigeria at the instance of President Nelson Mandela and met with the imprisoned Chief Abiola. The revered priest reported that Abiola’s health and living conditions were severely deteriorating and called for his urgent release to enable him to take care of his failing health. The call was ignored by the military regime.
