General Sani Abacha, the head of state of Nigeria, arrived in style on June 6, 1994, in Tunis, the capital of Tunisia, to attend the Organization of African Unity’s (OAU) 30th summit.
During the Third Republic crisis, Abacha was the highest ranking military official and the minister of defense. He was the mastermind behind the 1993 coup d’etat that toppled Ernest Shinekan’s Interim National Government. Abacha presented the overthrow in his national broadcast as a stabilizing gesture resulting from the socio-political unpredictabilities following the 1993 presidential election.
He issued a decree in September 1994 that essentially gave him unfettered power by elevating his government above the court’s jurisdiction. He was authorized by another decree to hold anyone without charge or trial for a maximum of three months. Additionally, he revoked Decree 691 of 1993.
