On 3 March 1999, Major General Oladipo Diya, who had been sentenced to death, but whose sentence was later commuted to a 25-year jail term, and his colleagues were reportedly released after General Abdulsalam Abubakar granted them amnesty (Post Express Wired 30 Mar. 1999).

A 9 March 1999 P.M. News report corroborated the release adding that Major General Diya, and his colleagues including Major General Tajudeen Olanrewaju, Major Gen. Abdulkareem Adisa, Col. EI. Jando, Col. Yakubu Bako, Lt. Col. O.O. Akinyode (deceased), Major A.A. Fadipe, Major B.M. Mohammed and Lance Corporal Galadima Tanko, were not only released but henceforth dismissed from the service, stripped of their ranks, and reportedly prohibited from using their military titles.

General Oladipa Diya was the deputy president of Nigeria from November 1993 to December 1997 when he was arrested by the Abacha government and charged with treason (The News 21 Sept. 1998). The statement arresting Major General Oladipo Diya, and the 11 others for allegedly planning to overthrow the government of the President Sani Abacha was issued by Major-General Abdulsalam Abubakar, now president, but then Chief of Defence Staff (Post Express Wired 23 Dec. 1997).

On 21 December 1997 the government arrested top army officials including the Deputy Head of State, Lieutenant General Oladipo Diya, Major General Tunji Olanrewaju, Major General Abdulkarim Adisa, and eight others for allegedly plotting to "violently" overthrow the government of General Sani Abacha (AC 23 Jan. 1998, 1-2; ibid., 9 Jan. 1998, 8; AFP 14 Feb. 1998; NA Feb. 1998; WA 12 - 18 Jan. 1998).

Two weeks before his arrest, Diya had allegedly narrowly missed becoming the victim of a bomb explosion at Abuja Airport when he was on his way to represent President Abacha at the funeral of the mother of Major-General Lawrence Onoja in Benue state (Post Express Wired 23 Dec. 1997). Diya's personal guards had also been gradually reduced and replaced by Special Bodyguards (SB), described as members of a "carefully selected" private army of 3,000 men trained in Libya and North Korea. The SB is reputed for its "quiet efficiency and brutality;" they are personally loyal to the president and take "orders from the presidential security chief, Maj. Hamza al-Mustapha" (AC 23 Jan. 1998, 1).

The trial drew condemnation from various human rights groups, and Nigeria's renowned human rights activist and lawyer, Femi Falana, who claimed that the fairness of the trial had already been prejudiced by the showing of the video clips (IPS 19 Feb. 1998). Both Femi Falana and the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) called for an open-court trial for the accused suspects. Throughout the trial, Gen. Oladipo Diya maintained that he had been framed (IPS 19 Feb. 1998; WA 16 - 22 Feb. 1998, 214).

At the end of the two-month trial, the military tribunal gave the death sentence to six including Lt. Gen. Oladipo Diya, Maj. Gen. Tajudeen Olanrewaju and Maj. Gen. Adulkareem Adisa, and a civilian (The Washington Post 29 Apr. 1998, AC 1 May 1998, 3). Five of the 20 other accused reportedly received prison sentences ranging from 2 to 14 years while 15 others were set free (The Washington Post 29 Apr. 1998).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please see below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Africa Confidential [London]. 1 May 1998. Vol. 39. No. 9. "Nigeria: Army Arguments: The Coup Plot Trial Has Brought Some Military Divisions to the Surface."

_____. 23 January 1998. Vol. 39. No. 2. "Plots, Lies and Videos."

Agence France Presse (AFP). 14 February 1998. "Nigeria Coup Defendants Face Death Penalty." (NEXIS)

Inter Press Service (IPS). 19 February 1998. Remi Oyo. "Nigeria-Politics: Alleged Coup Suspects on Trial." (NEXIS)

New African. February 1998. "Nigeria: Coups and Mayhem." (NEXIS)

The News [Lagos]. 21 September 1998. Tony Orilade. "Nigeria: The Politics of Diya's Freedom." (NEXIS/Africa News)

Post Express Wired. 30 March 1999. "Diya and the Lessons of History." [Internet: http://www.postepresswired.com/po...bec[Accessed 31 Mar. 1999].

_____. 9 Mar. 1999. "Diya's Journey Home." [Internet: http://www.postepresswired.com/po...[Accessed 31 Mar. 1999].

_____. 23 December 1997. Amaechi Dike, Tom Chiahemen, Mato Adamu. "Diya, Adisa Arrested for Alleged Coup Plot. 10 Others Also. Reports of Sporadic Shooting in Abuja." [Internet: http://www.postepresswired.com/po...[Accessed 31 Mar. 1999].

P.M. News [Lagos]. 9 March 1999. "Nigeria: Army Retires Gwadabe, Others Generals Affected." (NEXIS)

The Washington Post. 29 April 1998. "Six Nigerians to Die for Alleged Coup Plot; Trial Said to Widen Rifts Within Military" (NEXIS)

West Africa [London]. 16 - 22 February 1998. "Nigeria: Coup Trial Begins."