Diya‘s son, Babatunde Diya said the late military dictator, Sani Abacha died on the eve he was supposed to carry out his dad’s execution.
He stated this while speaking about the life and times of his father in this interview with PUNCH. It will be recalled that the former Chief of Defence Staff, the late Lt-Gen. Oladipo Diya passed away at 79 years old in the early hours of Sunday, March 26. According to reports, he was rushed to the hospital at about 11:30 pm. He sadly gave up the ghost around 1:00 am. His son, Babatnde, however, shared that his dad cheated death a couple of times. One of those times was when Abacha died on eve of his dad’s planned execution.
During Dr. Babtunde’s interview, he was asked “Did Diya ever narrate to his family how he cheated death by escaping a bomb explosion?” Babatunde said: Should I tell you the truth? My dad had one particular nature and that was that he kept a lot of things to himself. He never really opened up to people. He believed that no matter what the situation may be, God as the ultimate judge would answer him. So, yes, he didn’t speak about it, but I being someone very interested in history, I look at it and say wow. This was somebody that had nine lives like a cat because he got involved in two near-death experiences. The first one, I think he went to use the rest room and there was a bomb blast. The second one was when Victor Malu passed the verdict of the death sentence and the night before the Abacha regime was supposed to carry it out, Abacha passed away. People in Odogbolu, my local government, didn’t take it lightly because they were prayerful and stood solidly behind the man, saying ‘no, you cannot take our son from us’. He was someone that loved his people and dedicated his time and energy to helping people. My mum also said she saw a couple of shenanigans going on in Aso Rock. She could perceive something wasn’t right.
