On September 20, 1943, General Sani Abacha was born into the Abacha family in the ancient city of Kano, Nigeria.
Of Kanuri heritage, Abacha enlisted in the Nigerian Army in 1963 and rose through the ranks to become a General. He served as the 10th Head of State of Nigeria from November 17, 1993, until his death on June 8, 1998.
Prior to becoming Head of State, he held several key positions including Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Defence Staff, and Minister of Defence. He remains remembered as the military statesman who ruled Nigeria with an iron fist.
September 20, 2005: FG Arrests Dokubo-Asari for Treason
On September 20, 2005, the Federal Government arrested Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, the militia leader, in Port Harcourt on charges of treason.
Dokubo-Asari, leader of the proscribed Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force (NDPVF), was arrested on the orders of President Olusegun Obasanjo and detained at the headquarters of the State Security Service in Abuja.
Security sources said the arrest followed his persistent separatist rhetoric and threats to relaunch an armed campaign for an independent republic in the oil-rich Niger Delta.
The 40-year-old Ijaw leader had openly called for his people to break away from Nigeria and take control of the oil wealth in their land.
He was later arraigned briefly before a court in Abuja, where a judge ordered his detention for two weeks pending formal treason charges — a capital offence.
“This is the highest form of dictatorship in the land,” he told journalists as he was whisked away in a police van.
His arrest heightened tension in Port Harcourt, with protests paralyzing parts of the oil city and militants threatening to attack oil installations and kidnap foreign workers if he was not released.
