How Tinubu Warned Kudirat Abiola Of Danger 48 Hours Before Assassination — Son

New details have emerged surrounding the 1996 assassination of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, wife of the late winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, Chief M.K.O. Abiola.

Kudirat Abiola was shot dead on June 4, 1996, near the 7-Up Bus Stop in Ikeja, Lagos, by a strike squad linked to the military regime of General Sani Abacha while actively campaigning for the release of her detained husband.

In a documentary produced by US-based journalist Ose Oyamendan to mark Nigeria’s 66th Independence anniversary, Abdulmumini Abiola, one of M.K.O. Abiola’s sons, revealed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had warned his mother about an impending threat to her life shortly before her death and urged her to leave the country.

Abdulmumini recalled witnessing discussions between his mother and Tinubu as they deliberated on strategies to secure his father’s freedom.

“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,” Abdulmumini said.

He explained that despite Tinubu’s warning and advice to flee, his mother refused to leave Nigeria while her husband remained in military detention.

“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,” he added.

Abdulmumini noted that following Kudirat’s assassination, Tinubu went into exile, where he continued to campaign against the military junta and played a key role in operating NADECO’s pro-democracy station, Radio Kudirat.

He described Tinubu’s journey from the pro-democracy movement to Governor of Lagos State and ultimately President of Nigeria as a “full circle,” highlighting the President’s ongoing recognition of the struggle for Nigeria’s democracy.