Shehu Musa Yar’adua never planned coup against Abacha, he was merely set up. In fact he told the Chairman of the Military panel that “General Abacha knows I cannot plan an unsuccessful coup”.
So why did Abacha arrest him?
Yar’adua was a fearless man, he was very charismatic and had no iota of fear for Sani Abacha. Unlike IBB that kept mute under Abacha, Yar’adua was a critic of Abacha, he wanted a return to democracy(not June 12 though).
When he was asked to plead for clemency, he said “Abacha was recommended for retirement during our time in office but we deliberately removed his name from the list and spared his career” He ended up by saying “only Allah can give clemency”.
Abacha hated his guts so much that even when Yar’adua died in prison, Abacha put a net on his burial ground signifying that although he is dead but yet he’s still serving a jail term!
