My husband saved Lekwot from death, says Maryam Abacha
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Font size: Published 07/07/2010 15:12:00 Edwin Olofu

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Maryam Abacha, widow of the late military head of state, Sani Abacha


Maryam Abacha, widow of the late Head of State, Sani Abacha, has revealed that her late spouse influenced the stay of execution of death sentence passed by a military tribunal on the former Rivers State governor, Zamani Lekwot, and his kinsmen over the Zango Kataf crisis in 1992.
Mrs. Abacha, who received hundreds of Kaduna South indigenes resident in Kano during a solidarity visit to Muhammad Abacha over his gubernatorial aspiration, said the gesture by the late maximum ruler was propelled by his "humane spirit of forgiveness."


Many Nigerians consider the rule of Mr. Abacha, from December 1993 to May 1998, as one of the most ruthless of any military ruler in the country.
Mrs. Abacha, however, explained that her late husband was a nationalist who took into cognizance the unity of Nigeria and was concerned with the relationship between the Christians Kataf and their Muslim neighbours who had, for several years, lived peacefully together.
Seven members of the Kataf ethnic group, including now retired general, Zamani Lekwot, were sentenced to death for murder in connection with religious riots that broke out in northern Nigeria in May 1992, leaving them with no right of appeal against the convictions and their execution.
Close relationship

The late military ruler's wife, who spoke in Hausa amid applauses from the crowd, noted that she was not surprised by the existing close relationship the Kataf have maintained with the Abacha family which, she said, see in them relations and members of the extended family.
"You are my relations; the head of my domestic staff is a Christian from Kaduna. We allow freedom of worship and from him, we have come to learn a lot on Christians values," Mrs. Abacha said.
"We voted for Nigerian unity, one people, one nation. These are what my late spouse lived and died for, and we are promoting the legacy for its attendant benefit in a multicultural society."
Leader of the Southern Kaduna residents in Kano, Ayuba Dangana, described the late Abacha "as a friend and a relation", whose administration elevated his people to the forefront of Kaduna politics.

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