1997 Coup was not a phantom – Seun Fadipe

…recounts role during the coup attempt in Nigeria

By Seyi Babalola

Major Seun Fadipe (rtd), former Chief Security Officer to the late Lt-Gen Oladipo Diya, has opened up about his role during the 1997 coup attempt in Nigeria, offering a first-hand account of his involvement and the events that led to the plot against General Sani Abacha’s regime.

Fadipe explained that, contrary to popular belief, his involvement in the plot was largely inadvertent and he had no prior knowledge of the conspiracy.

He made this known in an interview with Saturday Sun.

Recalling his early days at the villa, Fadipe shared how he was sent by his boss to meet Captain Hamza Al-Mustapha to inquire if he could travel to Abuja, leading to his unexpected presence in the villa at the time.

He emphasised that he did not know about the impending coup and played no active role in planning or executing it.

When asked about his experience in the Federal Military Government, Fadipe clarified that his primary duty was to protect his boss and his family.

He was also responsible for intelligence gathering and sharing critical information from various military agencies to ensure the safety of his principal both at home and abroad.

Fadipe also shed light on the 1997 coup, describing it as neither a phantom plot nor a fully executed plan. He explained the situation by drawing an analogy of a plan to steal gold, which was discovered before it could be carried out. In his view, while the plot was real, it failed to materialize due to intervention and the premature exposure of its details.

Recalling a critical conversation with his superior, Fadipe revealed that on the morning of December 9, 1997, he was informed of an attempt to abduct General Abacha in a manner similar to the 1993 ousting of Chief Ernest Shonekan. The plot, he learned, was orchestrated by the service chiefs, with the goal of preventing Abacha from transitioning to a civilian presidency.

Fadipe, who remained loyal to his boss, was caught in a moral dilemma. He feared that his participation, even as an observer, could implicate him. His boss, General Oladipo Diya, later confided that he had been aware of the coup attempt but had not betrayed the conspirators. Fadipe also recalled his interaction with a prophetic evangelist, who predicted the coup’s failure and assured him that no one would die as a result of the plot.

Despite his deepening involvement in the conspiracy, Fadipe maintained his loyalty to Diya, refusing to betray him despite mounting pressure from the coup plotters. He also recalled several meetings with key players, including General Bamaiyi, the late General Patrick Aziza, and other senior military officers, where plans were discussed but eventually derailed.

In the interview, Fadipe emphasised that the coup attempt was real and not a phantom plot, as some had suggested. He explained that key figures like Bamaiyi and Aziza had intended to remove both Abacha and Diya, with the ultimate goal of taking control of the country. However, the plan unraveled after it became clear that it had been compromised.

Fadipe concluded that the events of 1997 were a result of political maneuvering and failed plots within the military. He expressed that while he had been unknowingly caught up in the scheme, he had never sought to betray his boss, General Diya, and had always acted with loyalty and integrity.

Fadipe said: “I didn’t wake up one morning and said, oh, Fadipe, I want to plan a coup, because I really know the implication. If a coup fails, you know it’s death. So, you should make up your mind in delving into this. In fact, when General Olusegun Obasanjo was arrested and was jailed, I remember I was with Mohammed Abacha, Captain Yahya, and some of his friends who were discussing. They asked me a question, Major, please, is it true that General Obasanjo actually took part in that coup? And I said, well, I wouldn’t know. But the intelligence and the military police and the intelligence community that have investigated it should know better.

“I said, but it is very dangerous when you are in a circle and they are discussing things pertaining to coup plots. I said, if any of those people are arrested tomorrow, they might trace it back to you because you were there when they were discussing it. If, by accident, somebody mentioned it to you, whether you have agreed to take part or not, if that person is arrested and you have been monitored, then you can’t really wriggle out of it.

“One of them asked me a question. He said, okay, what about you? If you are in a gathering and you feel that they are discussing something like that, what would you do? I would say, gentlemen, excuse me, and I would just leave that gathering immediately. And since that time, they have called me gentlemen. Once I sit around where they mentioned things like that, I would just bolt away.

“But this particular 1997 coup, I couldn’t do that. Like what the tribunal chairman told me; Fadipe, you are a Major and you are not a junior officer, you are a middle level officer. You should know your right from your left, and that what I should have done was to report my boss. And I told him that I wouldn’t betray my boss for anything. He confided in me, so I wouldn’t betray him.

“On that morning, that Tuesday, 9th of December, 1997, Monday before then, there was a Chief of Army Staff Conference in Enugu. And the Head of State, Abacha, was supposed to be there. At that time, I didn’t know anything that transpired.
But the only thing is that Oga (Diya) said I should be monitoring the Head of State if he left and when he got to Enugu. But the man had left, and the advance party had gone to Enugu. The man truly left the office, and after a while, the man came back into the villa. So, I went to Oga, I said, well, the C-in-C left already, but he came back. He said, what really happened? I said, I don’t know. I said, maybe you should go to Oga and ask him. Then, he said, okay, don’t worry, I will find out what happened.

“So, around evening time, Bamaiyi just entered the office. I said to myself: Ah, Bamaiyi is the Chief of Army Staff. He’s supposed to be in Enugu. So, what is he doing here in Abuja? He stayed with my boss for like 20 to 30 minutes and left.
Immediately after he left, Oga called me. He said, call me General Adisa. Then, Adisa had been removed as the Minister of Works and Housing as at that time. Himself and General Olanrewaju, but they had not been retired and they had not been given a new portfolio. They were just floating.

“So, I called Gen Adisa and he came in almost immediately, wearing a mufti. He was with my oga for 10 to 20 minutes and came out. Then, the man was just trying to ask me some questions that were alien to me. The man discovered that I was not in the know or whatever. So the man said, okay, Fadipe, don’t worry. I will see you later, or come and see me at home later, and he left.

“Then, on Tuesday morning, when we got to the office, the C-in-C left and Oga (Diya) called me back and I gave him the normal briefing.

“Then he said, you Fadipe, all you intelligence and security people, you guys don’t know anything o! I said, I don’t understand, sir. He said, you said everything is okay. I said, yes, everything is well, sir. He said, do you know that if Oga, that is the C-in-C, had travelled to Enugu yesterday, he would have been abducted and there would have been a change of power?

“Ah! Immediately, he told me that I knew I was in trouble. I just knew it. So, I said, sir, by who? He said, by the service chiefs.

“I said, who and who are involved in this? He said, all the service chiefs and the GOCs. Ah! Then I asked him, sir, why? He said he didn’t want the man to transmute himself into civilian president.
Ah! Oh my God! Why did this man tell me this? Because immediately, I’m already complicit!
“Then, I asked how that would have happened? He said, if the man had gone there, the way they removed Chief Shonekan would have been the way it would have been done. In removing Shonekan, they just got into the office, and forced him to resign. He said, that’s what they would have done to Abacha. They would have abducted him and forced him to resign.”