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A SELECTION OF ARTICLES FROM THE ONLINE NEWSHOUR

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The Online NewsHour, a presentation of PBS,  is the web site of The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer 

Here I found many articles of interest concerning Sani Abacha.  Below you will find a few excerpts.  To read more, please click here and enter search word "abacha."

CHANGING OF THE GUARD 

June 9, 1998

Excerpt: "Sani Abacha and fellow generals seized power in 1993, annulling the results of presidential elections widely considered the most democratic in Nigeria's history. The businessman who won those elections, Moshood Abiola, has been in prison ever since; and some Nigerians are now calling for him to be released and allowed to rule the country. Abacha's five-year regime was repeatedly criticized by human rights groups and by leaders like South Africa's Nelson Mandela for extreme violations of people's rights. In 1995, Abacha ordered the public hanging of Nobel Prize-winning author Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight others who had protested environmental damages they said were caused by oil exploration. Saro-Wiwa adamantly denied the government's charges that the activists had murdered four men."

read full article- http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/africa/jan-june98/nigeria_6-9a.html and

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/africa/jan-june98/nigeria_6-9.html 

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UNCERTAIN FUTURE

July 8, 1998

Excerpt: "LINDSEY HILSUM: The mourners are bewildered, suspicious, and angry, as well as racked by the grief. In Nigeria there’s always talk of people being poisoned. And recent years of military rule have seen many political murders. Hundreds came to sign the condolence book. Western pathologists are on their way to do an autopsy. But mourners say Chief Abiola looked healthy when Chief Anyoko of the Commonwealth saw him last week and this wasn’t a heart attack."

Full article: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/africa/july-dec98/nigeria_7-8.html

Chief Abiola's wife assassinated

JOHN SHATTUCK, Assistant Secretary of State: Well, Mrs. Abiola's murder is really an example of the political terror that is gripping Nigeria at this point. No one knows who was responsible for this. We do know that the assassination--and that is what we believe it was--took place about 200 yards from a police checkpoint. There is no evidence at this point of who precisely pulled the trigger, but we know that she was pulled out of the car and shot at point blank range. And obviously, this is a terrible terrible act in any country. And it was a tragedy in Nigeria, because it underscored the political violence.

Full article here 

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_____________________________________________________

June 16, 1998
Sec. Rice discusses events in Nigeria.

June 9, 1998
General Abacha dies in Nigeria.

June 12, 1996
A discussion on Nigeria's repressive military regime.

January 18, 1996
Charlayne Hunter-Gault talks with the U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria about the execution of activist Ken Siro-Wiwa and its effects on the country.

November 11, 1995
A report on the execution of activist Ken Siro-Wiwa.

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