As Nigeria marks another Democracy Day on June 12, we are reminded not only of the milestones we’ve achieved as a nation but also of the immense sacrifices that paved the way.
Among those who stood boldly against tyranny is Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, one of the wives of the late MKO Abiola. Kudirat Abiola’s activism and brutal assassination are a testament to the fact that democracy did not come freely. It came at the cost of lives, tears, and blood.
Who Was Kudirat Abiola?
If Kudirat Abiola were to be alive today, she would have been 74 years old. She was born in 1951 in Zaria, northern Nigeria. She attended Muslim Girls High School in Ijebu-Ode and at 21 married Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (M.K.O.) Abiola, a wealthy businessman and philanthropist who would later become a central figure in Nigeria’s political history.
Kudirat was not the only wife of MKO Abiola; she was his second wife, and their union produced seven children. She was a thriving entrepreneur, a pharmaceutical importer in her time who probably thought she would live a quiet, contented life, with her husband and her children, even though he was in politics, but then June 12 happened.
The June 12 Election
On June 12, 1993, Nigeria’s democracy took a historic turn when M.K.O. Abiola ran for president under the Social Democratic Party (SDP). The election, widely regarded as the freest and fairest in Nigerian history, saw Abiola winning by over 8 million votes. Yet, the military dictator General Ibrahim Babangida annulled the election results, and the nation plunged into chaos.
Following this betrayal of the people’s mandate, Babangida was forced to resign, giving way to an interim government led by Ernest Shonekan, a transition that quickly collapsed when General Sani Abacha seized power in November 1993. Like all Nigerians, Kudirat hoped that Abacha would restore her husband’s mandate, but he didn’t.
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So, MKO Abiola took matters into his own hands and declared himself president on June 11, 1994. Twelve days later, he was arrested and charged with treason. He remained in solitary confinement until his death on July 7, 1998.
Kudirat’s Activism
With her husband in jail, many expected that Kudirat would lie low so as not to attract dire consequences, but she rose to the occasion. She stepped forward, becoming a fearless voice in the pro-democracy movement. She rallied civil servants, market women, and students in the Southwest and beyond, urging Nigerians to demand what was rightfully theirs: the return of democratic rule.
Kudirat also played a key role in organizing and sustaining the oil workers’ strike in 1994, a twelve-week protest that brought the Nigerian economy to its knees and highlighted the military regime’s vulnerability. In December 1995, she marched for freedom alongside prominent nationalists like Chief Anthony Enahoro, braving military bullets and threats to her life.
Sadly, her activism made her a marked woman.
The Assassination
On the morning of June 4, 1996, just eight days before the third anniversary of the June 12 election, Kudirat Abiola was on her way to the Canadian High Commission in Lagos. She was in a white Mercedes-Benz, driven by her driver Dauda Atanda and accompanied by her personal assistant, Lateef Shofolahan.
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Around 9:30 AM at the 7-Up bus stop on Oregun Road in Ikeja, two cars double-crossed them, and six heavily armed men opened fire on Kudirat Abiola’s car. She was shot at point-blank range, and her driver was also injured. Kudirat was rushed to the Eko Hospital on Mobolaji Bank Anthony Way in Ikeja, Lagos, where she eventually died between 12.15 and 12.30 pm.
Suspiciously, Kudirat’s personal assistant, Lateef Shofolahan, escaped the attack unhurt. He was later accused of being involved in the murder plot of Kudirat Abiola. The plotters allegedly penetrated her network through Lateef Shofolahan. Her murder sent shockwaves across the nation and the Abacha military government offered the sum of $45,000 to anyone who could give information leading to the arrest of the assassins.
Revelation came in October 1998, after the deaths of both M.K.O. Abiola and General Abacha. Major Hamza Al-Mustapha (Abacha’s chief security officer) and Lateef Shofolahan were arraigned in court for the assassination.
Investigations into the killing traced the killers’ bullets to Hamza Al-Mustapha’s personal armoury. He and Mohammed Abacha, Gen. Abacha’s son, were both charged with the death of Kudirat Abiola.
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In the court, Mohammed Abdul, one of the assassins, narrated how Mohammed Abacha gave him and other gunmen $10,000 to flee the country when Obasanjo’s government began an investigation into Kudirat Abiola’s assassination.
The court dismissed the suit on the premise that the applicants failed to adduce evidence to establish their direct relationship with late Mrs Abiola. It also held that they equally failed to present any legal instrument that mandated them to sue as indirect victims, on behalf of Abiola’s estate.
