OBJ Sent Me To Prison For No Reason – Bamaiyi

Former Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lt. Gen. Ishaya Bamaiyi (retd), has revealed that there was more to why former President Olusegun Obasanjo imprisoned him for over eight years.

Bamaiyi said apart from the fact that he opposed the choice of Obasanjo as successor to former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, he was jailed for fears that he would overthrow the Obasanjo government.

The ex-army chief revealed this in his book, “Vindication of A General” which was unveiled in Abuja last weekend.

According to Bamaiyi’s account in the book, upon handing over power to Obasanjo in May 1999, Abubakar told the new civilian president to silence him (Bamaiyi) because he could overthrow the new government.

Bamaiyi said from that moment, General Aliyu Gusau, the then National Security Adviser and Obasanjo did everything possible to imprison him.

In Chapter 10, page 128, of the book, as cited by Vanguard, Gen. Bamaiyi said: “As soon as Obasanjo took over, Gen. Abubakar and some of his people told Obasanjo that if I were left free, I would overthrow Gen. Obasanjo’s government.

“This did not surprise me because while we were in service, General Abubakar set up a secret investigation of certain people during the Abacha rule. I had not been told although some soldiers in the army, like Sgt Rogers, were invited for investigation.

“When I had to replace my security officer, I asked for Capt. Najaja to replace Capt Bature, who was assigned to the USA. Gen. Abubakar said Najaja was being investigated. He realized his mistake and kept quiet. I did not bother myself about the investigation because I knew I was not involved in any criminal act.

“Abubakar’s committee completed its assignment and gave clean bills to all those questioned. When Obasanjo took over, some PDP big shots decided that based on the report, I had control of the Army and should be arrested. The government looked for avenues to arrest me.

“They started by checking Army accounts to see if I had stolen money. They spoke to the Director of Army Finance and Accounts, DAFA, Maj. Gen. Omosebi who told them he had never worked with an officer who believed in accountability like I did. They felt disappointed.

“The government wanted to take my personal house in Asokoro. The NSA , Gen. Gusau talked to Mr. Daboul, a friend of mine who had built the house for me. He told General Gusau of our agreement that I would pay for the house over 10 years. This saved my house.

“When everything failed, Obasanjo and his government decided to revisit their investigation. Col. JB Yakubu and Capt. Najaja were forced to implicate me. This gave the government the opportunity to start looking for me. I was following everything that was happening.”

Bamaiyi said he was advised some people to run away but he refused because he believed he was clean.

He said that he traveled to the UK twice and the USA once and that on each occasion, he phoned to tell the NSA, Gusau, of his journey.

“I did that so no one would think I was running away. He did not know I was aware of what was happening. Many people who were aware of what was going on advised me to stay out of the country but I believed I had no cause to run away from a democracy where the rule of law would prevail. I also had to protect my family. What would I tell my children and grand-children in future, if I ran away?” he said.