A young woman was riding in her boyfriend’s truck when he struck a pillar, going 75 mph. Crushed in the mangled wreckage, she opened her eyes to see his head had gone through the windshield. His face was covered in blood, and his body lay motionless. Then, she glanced out the window and saw a man smiling at her. Even more shocking than the stranger standing in the road, however, is what was later found at the scene of the crash.
Arika Stovall was riding in the passenger seat of her boyfriend Hunter’s truck when it drifted off the road and slammed into a pillar at 75 mph, reducing the once-formidable vehicle to a heap of scrap metal with Arika trapped inside. The impact should have “chopped our bodies in half,” Arika admitted, but miraculously, she was still alive and even able to open her eyes.
Just seconds before the impact, Arika was certain she and Hunter were sliding towards certain death. As the truck drifted from the road, Hunter had just three seconds to react as they sped head-on towards a concrete pillar. His split-second reaction would either save their lives or seal their fate. Luckily, Hunter “did exactly what he needed to do to make sure my life didn’t end,” Arika recalled. But, she knows he didn’t act alone…Click Here To Continue Reading>> …Click Here To Continue Reading>>
“God helped Hunter to respond exactly the way he did behind the wheel, guiding the truck exactly where he should have to be able to avoid smashing head-on into the pillar,” Arika wrote in a Facebook post. “That doesn’t just happen. God doesn’t throw protection around like that for no reason. He does it because he’s not finished with us.” That’s not all God did that day, either.
Arika couldn’t believe what she witnessed next. Trapped with no one around to see that they desperately needed help, Arika panicked and began to scream. Her eyes anxiously searched her surroundings, first looking towards the driver’s seat. Hunter, whose head was through the windshield, wasn’t moving and wouldn’t respond.
Hunter was bloodied and motionless, and Arika felt helpless — but that all changed the instant she looked out the truck’s window. “There was a man — bright with a big white beard. No other cars in sight — just this man,” Arika recalled, and she knew exactly who he was. “He was my guardian angel. He saw me and immediately told me that an ambulance was coming.”
Although Arika isn’t sure if she was in a dream state or seeing a glimpse of heaven, she said, “I knew in that moment was that Hunter was safe with me.” But, the sight of the smiling man gave her something more than just affirmation that Hunter would be okay. As she kept her eyes on him, Arika was protected from further trauma.
“This man — looking at him for a short moment — helped me not witness Hunter being peeled out of the truck. I believe if I saw that I would have had a heart attack,” Arika explained. Instead, this beaming, bright vision kept her attention diverted. READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>
Then, the stranger simply walked away, and when Arika blinked, a flashlight was suddenly shining in her face. The paramedics had arrived, and Arika and Hunter were about to experience yet another miracle.
“Here is the miracle part: no broken bones, concussions that lasted not even 24 hours, no internal damage, and just a few stitches in my knee and hunters face,” Arika wrote. “Only that after an accident that paramedics wonder how we didn’t die instantly and a truck that looks like it’s been through a tree grinder.”
Both Hunter and Arika were released from the hospital not even 48 hours after entering. And, again, they would receive yet another miracle. When they returned to the scene of the crash, they found Hunter’s Bible, “open, with a page marked with scripture telling us to not be afraid; Jesus is with us,” Arika said.
“I’m in awe of the presence of God in this entire situation. Every part of this experience we went through points directly to Him,” Arika wrote. “I am amazed. Absolutely taken away by the presence of God, so blessed for him sending me an angel, so thankful for Hunter and his second chance at life, for his healing and health.”
Arika closed with a prayer for all of us who read her incredible story, which is proof of God’s unwavering plan for each of us and that nothing in this physical world can derail what He has already determined. “Tonight I’m praying for all of you,” Arika Stovall wrote. “I want everyone to know the love and the power of God,” she continued.
“He has a purpose, and it’s so clear that nothing, not even a car accident like this one, will cause His plans for you to change,” Arika explained. “I’m praying that everyone who reads this can get a glimpse of God’s faithfulness. He is good. And working. And the plans he has for you and your life aren’t going anywhere,” she declared.
“Good or bad … it’s God’s doing. It’s his plans unfolding. It’s his kingdom coming. Embrace the struggles and the joys of this life! Without a doubt, it’s a miracle we’re alive, but more than that, it’s simply Gods plan for us.
We’re so grateful for this wreck,” Arika added, saying she’d endure it all again if it meant helping more people know God. “We are blessed to be okay. And so in love with the amazing God we serve.”
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.
