Nigeria: Radio Coup

A military takeover bid

The announcement last Saturday over Nigeria's Radio Lagos was brief and enigmatic. Claiming to speak on behalf of the country's armed forces, Brigadier General Sana Abacha of the Nigerian army declared that he and his colleagues had "decided to effect a change in the leadership of the government" of President Shehu Shagari, 58. "This task," said Abacha, "has just been completed." The general then announced that all political parties were being banned and communications with the outside world suspended, and that a dusk-to-dawn curfew was being imposed. Only...

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