Obasanjo rejected US asylum despite an arrest warning, recounting how Abacha’s regime detained and imprisoned him in 1995

Former Nigerian President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has recounted how he rejected an offer of political asylum from the United States despite warnings that he would be arrested if he returned to Nigeria, before the military government of the late General Sani Abacha detained and imprisoned him in 1995.

Obasanjo shared the account while reflecting on his transition from military leadership to farming and the difficult years he spent in detention under Abacha’s regime.

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His recollections were featured in a video published by BBC News Pidgin on Tuesday, November 10, 2026.

The former president explained that his decision to leave the Nigerian Army and pursue agriculture followed his belief that he had reached the highest possible point in his military career.

Obasanjo became Nigeria’s military Head of State on February 13, 1976, following the assassination of General Murtala Muhammed. At 38, he assumed leadership of the country and subsequently oversaw the transition to civilian government in 1979.

He recalled that by the time he left office, he had attained the rank of a four-star general at the age of 42, making further advancement within the military unlikely.

“When I was leaving government as military head of state, there was — I was leaving too early. I didn’t join the army to retire at the age of 42.

“Now I had to retire at the age of 42. At the age of 42, I had become a four-star general. There’s nothing else I can do in the army. I’ve become the military head of state. That’s the highest political office I could rise.”

Having reached that point, Obasanjo said he decided to concentrate on farming, an undertaking that initially proved successful before his political troubles began.

He described agriculture as a new chapter in his life, which allowed him to pursue activities outside the military and public office.

However, his relative peace was interrupted in March 1995 when the Abacha government arrested him over an alleged coup plot.

The former president said the American ambassador to Nigeria at the time, Walter Carrington, contacted him while he was travelling abroad and warned that returning home could result in his arrest.

According to Obasanjo, the United States offered him political asylum, providing an opportunity to remain outside Nigeria rather than face possible detention.

He nevertheless rejected the offer, insisting that he had committed no offence that justified seeking refuge in another country.

“I was travelling and coming back, and the American ambassador in Nigeria called me and said his country had offered me political asylum because they knew that I would be arrested if I returned home.

“This was difficult for me. I don’t — I haven’t done anything. What do they want to arrest me for? Um, I don’t want political asylum.”

Obasanjo’s account is consistent with an earlier disclosure he made in August 2020, when he revealed that Carrington had warned him about the impending arrest during a trip to Copenhagen, Denmark, where he attended the World Social Summit as a United Nations Human Development Ambassador.

After returning to Nigeria, Obasanjo said his international passport was seized, prompting him to head to his farm in Ota, Ogun State.

However, his security personnel reportedly informed him that government security operatives had surrounded the property.

He recalled that a police officer dressed in civilian clothing subsequently approached him, claiming that an Assistant Inspector-General of Police wanted him to assist with an investigation.

Obasanjo questioned the approach, arguing that a senior police officer seeking his assistance should have come personally rather than sending an intermediary.

He eventually decided to drive himself to the police station, where the Assistant Inspector-General informed him that he had received instructions to arrest the former head of state.

“So it was my own car that I used to take myself to the police station. We saw the AIG, and the AIG said, ‘I have been instructed to arrest you,’” he recounted.

The arrest occurred against the background of Abacha’s military administration, which had taken power in November 1993 after removing the Interim National Government led by Chief Ernest Shonekan.

The alleged coup plot announced by the authorities in March 1995 resulted in the arrest of several military officers, politicians and prominent public figures, including former Chief of General Staff, Major General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua.

Human rights organisations and international observers subsequently raised serious concerns about the treatment of detainees and the fairness of the military tribunal proceedings.

A 1996 report by the International Commission of Jurists documented Obasanjo’s arrest, initial detention, subsequent house arrest and eventual transfer to prison. The report also raised concerns about the broader human rights situation under Abacha’s government.

Obasanjo maintained that Abacha wanted him eliminated because his continued freedom could undermine the military ruler’s political objectives.

The former president also recalled receiving assistance from former United States President Jimmy Carter, who intervened on his behalf after learning about his detention.

According to Obasanjo, Carter travelled to Nigeria and appealed directly to Abacha, resulting in his transfer from detention to house arrest.

The intervention was significant because Carter had maintained relationships with Nigerian political leaders and was involved in humanitarian and development activities across the country.

Historical reports published by The Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post in March 1995 confirmed that Carter appealed to Abacha for Obasanjo’s release after his arrest. Nigerian authorities subsequently allowed the former leader to remain under restrictions at his hometown.

Obasanjo, however, said the relative freedom did not last.

He recalled that security operatives eventually arrived at his residence in the middle of the night while he was playing squash at approximately 1am.

Without much explanation, the operatives informed him that they were taking him away.

“I was put in a place. Then President Jimmy Carter came. He pleaded, and then they put me under house arrest. Then they came one day; I was playing squash at about 1am.

“They came and said they were taking me away. And they took me away, and from there, I went to prison,” he said.

Obasanjo was subsequently tried by a military tribunal over the alleged coup plot and sentenced to life imprisonment, although the sentence was later reduced to 15 years.

His imprisonment attracted international condemnation, with human rights organisations questioning the credibility of the proceedings and calling for his release.

The former military leader remained in detention until June 1998, when Abacha died suddenly and General Abdulsalami Abubakar assumed leadership of the country.

On June 15, 1998, the new military administration ordered the release of Obasanjo and several other prominent political prisoners. Transparency International confirmed his release the following day.

His return to freedom marked the beginning of another remarkable chapter in his political career.

In February 1999, Obasanjo contested the presidential election under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), defeating his principal challenger, Olu Falae.

He was inaugurated on May 29, 1999, becoming Nigeria’s first elected civilian president of the Fourth Republic.

Obasanjo subsequently secured a second term in 2003 and completed his eight-year presidency in May 2007, handing over power to his successor, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.

At 89, his latest recollections offer a personal account of one of the most difficult periods in his life, highlighting the decision to reject political asylum, the intervention of international figures and the experience of imprisonment under military rule.

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His story also provides a reminder of the political tensions and human rights concerns that shaped Nigeria’s transition from military government to civilian democracy in the late 1990s.