Sitting in her luxury car, a wealthy woman was returning home from work when her gaze locked onto a sight that shook her to the core. Overwhelmed with emotions, she fainted, only to wake up a few minutes later in the same state of shock.
As the CEO of the best skincare brand in town, Isabella barely found time to spend with her only daughter, Christelle. She usually returned home from work by the time Crystal was fast asleep. The mother-daughter duo would only spend an hour together in the morning before Christelle would leave for school…Click Here To Continue Reading>> …Click Here To Continue Reading>>
Besides that, they would bond on weekends by playing games and going for a walk in the nearby park. It was a breezy Thursday evening when Isabella managed to leave work at 5 PM because she didn’t have any more meetings scheduled for the day. She picked up her bag and headed towards the exit, dialing her chauffeur’s number.
“I’m heading towards the exit,” she told him as the sound of her heels clicking against the wooden floor echoed in her office’s hallway with each step she took. Once her chauffeur parked her white luxury car at the exit of her office building, she walked towards an open door to sit in the back seat, excited to meet Crystal.
She instructed the man to drive her home. Isabella could think of so many things she could do with her daughter. She wanted to cook her girl’s favorite pasta and watch a Disney movie together. Little did she know that a shocking sight awaited her near her house. As her car neared her home in one of the most expensive neighborhoods, she suddenly asked the chauffeur to stop.
A girl wearing a dirty, torn dress caught her attention. She looked like a homeless girl, but something about her face didn’t allow Isabella to shift her gaze. Then, Isabella’s eyes opened wide, and her eyebrows arched in shock when she saw Crystal emerge from behind the homeless girl.
Her daughter was begging with a girl on the street, holding her hand as they walked away from Isabella’s home. The single mother gasped in shock as she noticed the striking resemblance between Crystal and the homeless girl.
Their eyes, nose, mouths, and the shape of their faces matched perfectly. Just as Isabella held the car’s door to open it, she felt her head spin, and her vision became blurred. Her hand went to her head, her body felt weak, and she blacked out. She fell unconscious in the backseat of her car before her chauffeur could figure out what happened. “Miss Montgomery,” the worried man turned around and looked at her, wondering what to do next.
A few minutes later, Isabella opened her eyes. She was still in the backseat of her car, but now she was waiting outside her house, and Christelle was sitting next to her, holding a glass of water. “Mommy, are you okay?” the nine-year-old asked her mother. Isabella looked around, trying to spot the homeless girl she’d seen earlier.
Then, her gaze shifted to her daughter as she inspected her dirty hands and untidy ponytail. “Where were you, Christelle?” she asked. “I was playing with my friends in the park,” the little girl lied. “Let’s go inside, mommy. READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>
You need a rest.” Isabella didn’t confront her daughter at that point, despite knowing the truth. She followed her little girl inside the house, planning to visit the homeless girl in her absence. Isabella was shocked at the resemblance between Crystal and the poor girl. The following day, Isabella did not go to work after her daughter left for school.
Instead, she visited the spot where she’d seen the homeless girl begging with Crystal. Unsure about whether she would meet the girl, she walked around until she spotted the girl sitting in the stranded alley. “Hey, you, come here,” Isabella gestured for the girl to come towards her. As the homeless girl walked towards her, Isabella’s heart skipped a beat watching how she resembled Crystal so much. It seemed like the poor girl was Christelle’s long-lost twin.
“Do you have something for me?” the girl, Lily, asked, extending her palm. Shocked after listening to the girl’s voice, Isabella asked about her parents. She thought there was a connection between Crystal and Lily and wanted to figure out about it. “Your mother lives here with you?
Isabella smiled at the little girl. “Now, I live with my aunt. My mother passed away, and I don’t know where my father is,” Lily replied while looking at Isabella. Learning about her parents made Isabella think about something that hadn’t crossed her mind. “What if she actually is Christelle’s sister?
she wondered while standing in the stranded alley. Curious about the truth, Isabella talked to Lily’s relatives and learned that her mother had indeed passed away. Moreover, they’d never met her father. They only knew he was a rich man who spent some time with Lily’s mother. “Oh my God,” the wealthy woman covered her mouth with her hand after talking to Lily’s relatives.
She connected the dots in her mind and was sure Lily was Christelle’s stepsister. All she needed to do was now contact her ex-boyfriend, Christelle’s father, who she hadn’t spoken to in a long time. They parted ways soon after Christelle was born, and Isabella never asked him for child support. During the next few days, Isabella asked her ex if he knew about Lily’s existence. To her surprise, Rex confessed that he had spent some time with a woman while he was with Isabella.
However, he wasn’t sure if Lily was indeed his daughter. “I can’t believe this,” Isabella gasped. A few weeks later, the wealthy woman was sure Lily was Christelle’s stepsister. She took the poor girl for a DNA test, and the result suggested she was related to Christelle by blood. Isabella went through a lot of mixed feelings.
The shock of learning that she’d been cheated on, and yet the joy of knowing that Crystal had a sister she clearly loved to bits. But it broke Isabella’s heart to see that Lily wasn’t living the lifestyle Crystal was. “Taking you home, darling,” she said, smiling through tears at the innocent girl and knowing in her heart it was the right thing to do.
Gen. Diya was crossed examined at the Human Rights Violation Commission (HRVIC) on the coup plan 1997 to overthrow Gen. Sanni Abacha, He bluntly denied the fact that he was part of the plan but he admitted he knew about the plan. He further explained that he was afraid of being killed by the Coup Master Planner if he revealed the plan.
Gen. Diya Oladipo then was appointed as Chief of Defense Staff. He was appointed Chief of General Staff in 1993 and Vice Chairman of the Provisional Ruling Council in 1994. In 1997 Diya and dissident soldiers in the military allegedly planned to overthrow the regime of Sani Abacha. The alleged coup was uncovered by forces loyal to Abacha, and Diya and his cohorts were jailed. Diya was tried in a military tribunal, and was given the death penalty. READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>
Nigeria has seen the rise and fall of many military regimes since she became a sovereign state in 1960 and this, at every turn, has altered the direction of the country.
A second coup since independence which happened on July 29, 1966, would see to the brutal death of Nigeria’s Supreme Commander, General J.T.C Aguiyi-Ironsi (the nation’s 1st military head of state) and his friend, Lieutenant Colonel Francis Adekunle Fajuyi, who was the sitting and 1st Military Governor of the Western Region…Click Here To Continue Reading>> …Click Here To Continue Reading>>
Aguiyi-Ironsi was a guest at the Government House, Ibadan, as he came to hold a meeting with traditional rulers in the Western region. Ironsi arrived Ibadan the previous day and unknowingly, he met his death during the counter-coup which is generally believed to be a retaliation to the January 15th 1966 coup in which prominent Northerners in power were killed.
The Northerners were believed to hold a grudge since the first coup as they lost leaders including Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa (Nigerian Prime Minister) and Sir Ahmadu Bello (Sardauna of Sokoto and Premier of the Northern Region). They tagged it an ‘Igbo Coup’ as no Eastern casualty was recorded in both the military and public service as even the West lost Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola in the coup. READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>
This counter-coup of July 29, 1966, led by General Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma was tagged the bloodiest coup by many in the history of Nigeria. Ironsi and Fajuyi’s death which still remains a controversial debate among historians because how they were killed isn’t clear but both bodies were found in a bush in outskirts of Ibadan. Read a comprehensive account of how Aguiyi-Ironsi was killed here.
Aside from the Head of State and Western Military governor, many other casualties were recorded in the army and most killed or maimed were Easterners, particularly Igbos. This will be one of the many reasons the country would go into a civil war the following year as the Eastern region tried seceding.
54 years after, we remember this gruesome act done in the Brown Roof City and how much has happened or changed since then.
General Sani Abacha is perhaps Nigeria’s most enigmatic head of state. He reigned from 1993 until his death in 1998. General Abacha was born in Kano state, northern Nigeria on September 20, 1943. He hails from Kanuri in Borno state.
He passed out of the Nigerian Military Training Centre in Kaduna where he proceeded to Mons Officer Cadet School in Aldershot, England before being commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in 1963.
He is held by some as Nigeria’s most successful coup plotter. When he was still a Second Lieutenant with the 3rd Battalion in Kaduna, he took part in the July 1966 Nigerian counter-coup from the conceptual stage. He could well have been a participant in the Lagos or Abeokuta phases of the coup the previous January as well…Click Here To Continue Reading>> …Click Here To Continue Reading>>
Abacha fought for Nigeria in the country’s civil war against Biafran secessionists continuing to rise through the army ranks.
He was instrumental in the 1983 Nigerian coup d’état which brought General Muhammadu Buhari to power as well as the August 1985 coup which removed him from power. He announced the coup which removed the government of Shehu Shagari.
When General Ibrahim Babangida was named President of Nigeria in 1985, Abacha was named Chief of Army Staff. He was appointed Minister of Defence in 1990. With Babangida’s resignation, an interim government headed by civilian President, Ernest Shonekan was formed.
Sani Abacha became the first Nigerian soldier to attain the rank of a full General without skipping a single rank in 1993. In the same year, he moved for the ultimate.
Shonekan resigned and transferred power to Sani Abacha in a move widely believed to be another bloodless coup. In September 1994, he issued a decree that placed his government above the jurisdiction of the courts, effectively giving him absolute power. Another decree gave him the right to detain anyone for up to three months without trial.
Abacha is noted for helping restore peace and democracy to Sierra Leone and Liberia after the civil wars.
On his administration of the Nigerian state proper, he established The Petroleum Trust Fund aimed to address major economic issues facing the country at the time. Between 25-100km of urban road in major cities such as Kano, Gusau, Benin, Funtua, Zaria, Enugu, Kaduna, Aba, Lagos, Lokoja, and Port Harcourt was planned to be constructed each. A N27.3bn contract was awarded for road rehabilitation in the first quarter of 1996.
There was a restructuring of major insurance companies that supported SMEs across the entire country.
Abacha mandated the PTF to publicise its accounts as it was the second-largest public corporation at the time. In 1997, the account of PTF showed that it disbursed N24.3bn on roads, N21.2bn on security, N7.8bn on health, and N3bn on other projects. Other disbursements include N2.2bn on water supply, N936m on food supply and N476m on education. It realized a total of N1.049bn from various investment activities.
It’s curious the sums which emerged after his death that he stashed in overseas accounts as the Abacha administration became the first to record unprecedented economic achievements overseeing an increase in the country’s foreign exchange reserves from $494 million in 1993 to $9.6 billion by the middle of 1997. READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>
He also reduced the external debt of Nigeria from $36 billion in 1993 to $27 billion by 1997. His Petroleum (Special) Trust Fund is also hailed for infrastructural projects and interventionist programmes in education, water and health.
His wife is credited with setting up the National Hospital in Abuja viewed as Nigeria’s foremost national hospital, which was initially set up as a hospital for women and children before its upgrade.
Nonetheless, Abacha was ruthless with groups he considered hostile to his administration between 1993 and 1998. There was a crackdown on the civil rights groups, media and pro-democracy groups.
It was also under him that Nigeria became a perpetual importer of petroleum products as the refineries packed up. The emergence of the ‘foul fuel’ which damaged car engines and released a repugnant smell was in his time.
General Sani Abacha earned the title ‘Thug of the Year’ from Time magazine in 1995 after the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa. Abacha developed the habit of working only at night. Availing himself to be seen publicly rarely while being averse to granting interviews.
The events of his death on June 8, 1998, at the presidential villa in Abuja are murky and while the official account is that he suffered a heart attack, other accounts say he was in the company of two Indian sex workers flown in from Dubai when he died. He was buried on the same day, according to Muslim tradition, without an autopsy. This fueled speculation that he may have been murdered by political rivals via poison.
Foreign diplomats, including United States Intelligence analysts, believed that his drink or fruit (apple) was laced with a poisonous substance while in the company of prostitutes.
Abacha was married to Maryam Abacha with whom he had had seven sons and three daughters.
In March 2014, the United States Department of Justice revealed that it had frozen more than $458 million believed to have been illegally obtained by Abacha and other corrupt officials.
On 7 August 2014, the United States Department of Justice announced the largest forfeiture in its history: the return of $480 million to the Nigerian government.
Stashed sums in other accounts have been discovered with the Nigerian government working to have the funds returned.
