New documentary: Kudirat Abiola’s son reveals Tinubu’s warning before her assassination

New details have emerged surrounding the 1996 assassination of Kudirat Abiola, wife of the late June 12, 1993 presidential election winner Bashorun MKO Abiola, according to a report by The Nation.

Kudirat was shot dead near Ikeja, Lagos, on June 4, 1996, by armed men reportedly led by Barnabas Jabila (Sergeant Rogers) under General Sani Abacha’s military regime while campaigning for her husband’s release. However, in a new documentary by U.S.-based journalist Ose Oyamendan released for Nigeria’s independence anniversary, Abiola’s son, Abdulmumini, revealed his mother’s death might have been averted had she heeded President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s warning to flee the country.

Recalling their interactions, Abdulmumini stated: “I remember vividly Asiwaju (Tinubu) and my mum going back and forth on the strategies on how to get Abiola out of prison. I remember vividly the last time he visited my mum and told her of an impending plot to assassinate the both of them, and that he was already planning his way out of the country; that he was going to go on exile and continue the fight from the United States.”

He added: “My mum was saying that he should go but that she could not leave her husband in prison. So she stayed back, and about a month or two later, she was assassinated on the streets of Lagos.” Abdulmumini noted that Tinubu continued the pro-democracy struggle abroad, including supporting Radio Kudirat, before returning to serve as governor and ultimately President.