NIGERIA – President Muhammadu Buhari has given a posthumous pardon to five influential Nigerians who were convicted of varying degree offences.
The development was disclosed by Rauf Aregbesola, Minister of Interior, at an event in Abuja on Thursday.
Those pardoned by the president are the late Prof Ambrose Alli, the late Anthony Enahoro, Ex Lt. Col. Moses Effiong, Major E.J. Olanrewaju and Ajayi Olusola Babalola.
The president, according to Aregbesola, granted the pardon in accordance with the powers granted him by the constitution.
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“Prof Alli was the Governor of the old Bendel State in the Second Republic (1978-1983) and a great progressive, while Chief Enahoro was a foremost nationalist who moved the motion for Nigeria’s independence.” — Minister of @MinOfInteriorNG, @raufaregbesola
— Presidency Nigeria (@NGRPresident) April 9, 2020
The late Alli, a professor of medicine, was elected the governor of the defunct Bendel State between 1979 to 1983. He was, however, arrested by the regime of Buhari, who was the military head of state in 1983, and was sentenced to 100 years in prison by a military tribunal for allegedly misappropriating N983,000 in funds for a road project.
The late Enahoro was renowned to be the first to move the motion for Nigeria’s independence from Britain in 1953. He was one of the country’s foremost anti-colonial and pro-democracy activists. Although his motion for Nigeria’s Independence suffered setbacks in parliament, his motion led to the creation of a popular movement which triggered pressure on the British authorities and eventually led to Nigeria’s independence in 1960.
He was, however, arrested and detained during the 1962 crisis in the old Western region along with other members of the Action Group. He escaped via Ghana to the United Kingdom in 1963 but was later extradited back to the country. He was released by the military government in 1966.
Enahoro was also jailed by the regime of the late military dictator, Sani Abacha, for leading the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO).
Effiong, a military officer, was sentenced to death by firing squad in 1986 for allegedly participating in a coup d’etat against the regime of Ibrahim Babangida. He was condemned along with Gen. Mamman Jiya Vatsa, Lieutenant colonels Chris Oche and Mike Iyorshe.
Effiong’s death sentence was, however, commutted to life imprisonment and eventually released in 1993. Share
