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Dr. Olisa Agbakoba, a former president of the Nigerian Bar Association, revealed how the late General Sani Abacha gave the order to kill 200 demonstrators during a dramatic clash in Lagos in 1993.

While drawing attention to the exclusion of a few significant figures from President Bola Tinubu’s most recent National Honors list, the Senior Advocate of Nigeria revealed the information in an interview with Channels TV.

Agbakoba described the violent clash that took place during the height of Nigeria’s political crisis when pro-democracy activists prevented Abacha from entering Lagos from Abuja.

“On July 6, 1993, that time Abuja and Lagos were co-capitals. So all of the ministers and Abacha were all in Abuja. They flew into Lagos. None of the ministers had the courage to come through. It was Abacha who came through, because we blocked everywhere,” Agbakoba revealed.

The senior attorney emphasized that the victims should be honored as democratic heroes while outlining the violent outcomes of the altercation.

“He (Abacha) came through, and he killed 200 of my boys that day; they’re not mentioned. They ought to be mentioned as heroes of democracy,” he stated, bringing attention to the underappreciated sacrifices made during the fight for democracy.

During the demonstrations, Agbakoba and fellow activist Beko Ransome-Kuti came dangerously near to death.

“I would have been killed alongside Beko (Ransome Kuti) on the bridge, because we were determined to march from the stadium to Dodan Barracks. So there are a lot of guys who were missing from the list,” SAN Agbakoba observed.

Former inmates who shared his fight against military authority were highlighted by the senior lawyer. He emphasized that they should be on the list by mentioning that Baba Omojola and Femi Ojudu were his prisonmates for almost six months.

In addition, Agbakoba named Clement Nwankwo, saying that as “co-founder of the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) with him and should have been recognized.”

The senior lawyer described his involvement in significant anti-military demonstrations that influenced Nigeria’s democratic transition in order to highlight the importance of underappreciated efforts. He disclosed that on July 6, he was the “co commander of a street protest involving 10,000 people alongside the late Beko Ransome Kuti, which led to the ouster of General Babangida on August 23.”

In subsequent protests, Agbakoba again mentioned his leadership role, stating that “on March 28, 1998, he was commander of the street protest during the 5 million man march, which opposed the youths in Kano who were asking and drumming up support for Abacha to stay in power.”

The senior counsel did, however, convey hope that the administration would rectify the omissions. He proposed that “when the federal government realizes the oversight in their selection, they can fill up the missing names, stating that it’s not a problem to rectify the omissions.”

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