He said: “Abiola wanted to make the declaration on June 12, 1994 but it was a Sunday; so some of us said since it was on a Sunday, Christians who were his supporters would not turn out so we devised a method to dissuade him.” Aside the possibility of the late Abiola’s Christian supporters not attending the event, Opadokun added that the deceased and NADECO were aware that the Abacha government had put in place watertight security in Lagos State to prevent such a declaration. “We were aware that the government had got wind of our programme, so we contacted the late Anglican archbishop who wrote a letter of appeal to Abiola to drop the move on Sunday. When Abiola got it, he respected the wish of the bishop and he shelved the idea,” Opadokun explained. However, the group sold a dummy by announcing that the declaration would be on Monday, June 13, a move that relaxed the security on ground and which made the declaration possible.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Jun 2013 14:39:50 +0000