TheCable

Gabriel Ajayi, a retired colonel accused of co-plotting the 1995 coup, has described Sani Abacha, the late military dictator, as a nice man in comparison to Ishaya Bamaiyi, a former chief of army staff.

Referring to ‘Vindication of a General’, a book written by Bamaiyi, as a comedy of errors, Ajayi said there was no coup attempt in 1995.

In an interview with PUNCH, Ajayi described Bamiyi as a liar and accused him of damaging the career of so many “fine military officers”.

Ajayi also faulted the position of Bamaiyi that Abdulsalami Abubakar, a former military head of state, should be held accountable for Abiola’s death.

“How could he claim that Gen. Abdulsalami should be held accountable for Abiola’s death when he was among those  who tortured Abiola before his death?” he asked.

“Bamaiyi was behind many evils done under Abacha. Compared to Bamaiyi, Abacha was a nice man. Bamaiyi’s aim through his book is to pit the Yoruba against Gen. Abdulsalami. What love does Bamaiyi have for the Yoruba to be concerned about the death of Abiola? Don’t mind him; he’s a liar.”

Describing the book as a “fictional thriller”, he said Oladipo Diya, second-in-command to Sani Abacha, was the one who chose Bamaiyi for the position of chief of army staff.

“I will call his book a fictional thriller. It should be titled, ‘The platform of Mallam Bamaiyi’. Just look at him: he spoilt the name of his government and the name of his superiors. He blackmailed as many people as possible. A true general should be dispassionate and diplomatic,” he said.

“He damaged the career of so many fine military officers. Gen. Tajudeen Olanrewaju replied him that he was lying in his book. Everybody knows he is a liar. The military knew he was a liar. How he was made to become Chief of Army Staff was a mystery to all the officers – it was Gen. Diya, a distinguished military officer, who chose Bamaiyi; even Abacha didn’t want him. I guess Diya didn’t know him very well.

“I had thought that Bamaiyi would apologise to Nigerians on behalf of the Abacha regime and ask for forgiveness rather than spew falsehood in his book. His book is full of lies.

“There was no coup at all – a coup that was created in the evil imagination of someone. The head of army’s legal services was arrested; a man who had the law book of Nigerian military; an adjutant of the Nigerian Defence Academy was arrested in Kaduna; Quartermaster Giwa was arrested and (Lawan) Gwadabe in Yola, Adamawa was arrested. How were we going to storm Aso Rock and remove Abacha? What force were we going to use to remove him?”

He said the “phantom coup” was only used to distract the country at the time.

“The coup allegation was laughable, incoherent and childish. The essence of the coup conspiracy was to knock down NADECO (National Democratic Coalition). Once the coup allegation was thrown up, the nation became divided and distracted from the issue of Chief MKO Abiola and that lasted for almost a year,” Ajayi said.

“The phantom coup used to distract the nation, the people would  have forced the military regime to accede to their demand – they could have brought down the government. I did not believe and did not see any need for a military coup. I believed the people have the power to force out any illegitimate government.”