Diya tried using me to overthrow Abacha, says Bamaiyi

Ishaya Bamaiyi, a former chief of army staff, says Oladipo Diya, a retired general, wanted to use him to overthrow Sani Abacha, a former military head of state.

Diya had accused Bamaiyi of being the initiator of the coup.

But in his book, ‘Vindication of A General’, Bamaiyi said Diya, who was second-in-command to Abacha, started planning the coup as early as 1994.

He said Diya complained that Abacha “was not doing well.”

According to him, the then second-in-command also said Abacha did not come to work early and was not listening to him and other senior people in government.

“On one of such visit, at his Ikeja residence, he mentioned how Gen. Abacha had not been doing well. He made the statement during the next visit and I asked what the problem was,” Bamaiyi, who was at the time in charge of Lagos garrison command, wrote.

“Diya mentioned that the commander-in-chief did not come to the office early and was not listening to him and other senior people in government. I told him I believed Gen. Abacha would listen to him because of their special relationship, I knew how many times Gen. Abacha had stopped plans to retire him.

“On the next visit, Diya said openly that there was a need to remove Gen. Abacha and that he was being blamed for the failure of the government from various quarters.”

He said when he asked Diya to tell him where the complaints were coming from, the second-in-command did not mention “specifics.”

“Gen. Diya went on to tell me I was one of the officers he trusted, and he would rely on me to get Gen. Abacha out of office so the country would move forward under his leadership,” he said.

“I told him I would think it over and get back to him. I informed Gen. Abacha, who said he was going to put Diya on trial.”

He said he suggested to Abacha that there was need for patience since there was no evidence and he could not be acting alone.

Bamaiyi added that he learnt that some service chiefs were retired because of an alleged plan to remove Abacha.

Abacha arrested Diya in December 1997, and he was tried  in a military tribunal, where he was given death penalty.

However, Abacha died before the date of Diya’s execution, and the government of Abdulsalami Abubakar, which succeeded Abacha, commuted the sentence, and Diya was released.

He has since withdrawn from public life, at a time devoting most part of his time to Methodist Church Nigeria, where he fellowships.

Diya could not be reached for comments on the fresh allegations raised by Bamaiyi. He neither answered calls nor responded to a text message.