A rare interview granted to Newswatch magazine by Brig.Gen. David Mark landed the publication’s directors in hot water with the late Gen. Sani Abacha, according to Yakubu Mohammed, former Executive Editor of the now-defunct magazine. Mohammed recounts the experience in his recently published memoir, “Beyond Expectations.”
Following Abacha’s ousting of the Ernest Shonekan-led Interim National Government (ING) in 1993, Mohammed writes that Abacha moved to remove perceived loyalists of former head of state Ibrahim Babangida from key military positions, including Gen. Aliu Gusau and Brig.-Gen. David Mark.
Mark, feeling betrayed, decided to expose Abacha’s true motives in an interview with then Newswatch editor-in-chief, Dan Agbese, while in London.
Mark revealed that Abacha’s claim of removing the ING to pave the way for M.K.O. Abiola’s presidency or fresh elections was a deception.
According to Mark, the plan was to hold a constitutional conference to draft a new constitution, an idea conceived by Gen. Oladipo Diya, Abacha’s second-in-command.
Mark believed Abacha intended to remain in power for at least five years before transforming into a civilian president.
The publication of the interview on April 11, 1994, triggered a manhunt for the Newswatch editors by the State Security Service (SSS).
Mohammed detailed his experience of being identified and apprehended in Lokoja, Kogi State, while attempting to meet with the military governor. He also recounted the arrests of Dan Agbese and Ray Ekpu.
Mohammed described the harsh conditions of their detention, with the three editors confined to a single cell with a single bed and constant light.
He noted that intervention from media colleagues, the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria, the Guild of Editors, and elder statesmen, including Adamu Ciroma, eventually led to their release after gaining Abacha’s attention.
—NAN
