A former staff of the defunct National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), Francis Ede, has recounted how he was tortured by the Sani Abachi junta in a bid to get him to implicate Asiwaju Bola Tinubu over a phantom plot to bomb the NNPC depot in Ejigbo, Lagos State.
Ede, who was a protege of Senator Polycarp Nwite, disclosed that he was detained at various times in 32 detention camps for more than five years over the matter.
The Ebonyi indigene stated that he was never brought before a court.
By a stroke of luck, he revealed, Abacha died on June 8, 1998, the same day he was due to be executed on the trumped-up charges.
“Yes, I, alongside some other NADECO members, would have been killed on June 8, 1998, by the late General Abacha over an offence which I knew nothing about.
“In Gen. Abacha’s desperate move to bulldoze members of the pro-democratic organisations and other dignitaries whom he viewed as obstacles towards his ambition, he falsely accused us of conspiring and attempting to bomb the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Ejigbo Depot in Lagos State,” Ede told Saturday Sun.
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Recounting his ordeal, Ede said, “On 12th September, 1994, I and others were taken to the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) where we were put inside sacks for hours before we were forced to sign fabricated confessional statements. Thereafter, we were taken to the Presidential Task Force on Anti-Abacha led by ACP Zakari Biu at Alagbon Close in Ikoyi Lagos. At this juncture, we encountered the highest torture of our lives from the security agents.
“Some days later, they were on our necks for us to sign other forged confessional statements implicating other NADECO members. During our encounter, I was told by a certain DSP Emma Ogolo that the only condition for my release was to admit that Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu sent me to bomb NNPC, Ejigbo Depot, a request which I stoutly objected to.”