Olusegun Osoba Claims IBB Was Held Hostage by Fellow Coupists

Former Ogun State governor, Olusegun Osoba, has alleged that ex-military Head of State, Ibrahim Babangida (IBB), was held hostage by the co-conspirators who helped him overthrow his predecessor, General Muhammadu Buhari.

In 1985, Babangida led a coup that ousted Buhari from power. Key figures in the coup included the late Sani Abacha and Aliyu Gusau.

Osoba revealed that Babangida confided in him and other journalists about being held hostage while in power. Speaking with Journalists Osoba recounted Babangida’s admission that he had no choice but to heed the demands of his fellow coupists.

“You see, even under the military, I always tell you people that you should praise us that we were able to produce papers that were still sellable under military dictatorship,” Osoba stated.

“You people operate under a civilian government. You don’t know what it was. The truth is that those military people knew that in-house. I will tell them the home truth.”

He recalled an incident involving himself, Felix Peter, and other journalists during a meeting with Babangida when he was military president. They candidly criticized Babangida’s leadership.

“It was so devastating that Gen. Babangida said, ‘Let me tell you boys, I am hostage to those who staged the coup and those who put me here.

And if I didn’t listen to what they wanted, they would get me out in seconds. And that there are no absolute powers,’” Osoba recounted.

He added, “So, you see, behind closed doors, we told them the home truth. So when we wrote stories, they already knew that we had told them the truth. And then tolerated us.”