Nigeria Vows to Release All Jailed Dissidents

Nigeria’s military government Thursday promised to release all political prisoners, including Moshood Abiola, the country’s most prominent detainee and the apparent winner of the annulled 1993 Nigerian presidential election.

The decision--which some analysts saw as a meaningless gesture but others believe may launch a new, improved era in Nigeria’s tormented modern political history--was announced by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan at a news conference in Abuja, the Nigerian capital.

Annan was there to conclude his four-day visit to the West African nation, which included his meeting with Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar, Nigeria’s military ruler. Abubakar took power June 9, after dictator Gen. Sani Abacha, 54, died of a heart attack.

“I’m leaving Nigeria with the stage set for the release of all political detainees,” the secretary-general said. “All political detainees will be released, and the government will make an announcement at the appropriate time.”

Annan, who visited Abiola, 60, in confinement at a government guest house in Abuja, confirmed that the wealthy businessman from the southwestern region around Lagos, Nigeria’s main city, was alert and in good health after more than four years in detention.

He said Abiola had agreed to relinquish his claim to the presidency and join Nigeria’s latest military junta in working toward a peaceful transition to democracy.

Annan said Abiola’s first priority upon leaving prison is to rebuild his life, then determine the extent of his political activism.

Besides Abiola, there are an estimated 250 to 280 political prisoners still jailed across Nigeria. Since taking office last month, Abubakar, a career soldier, has released more than 30 of them, including Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria’s former military ruler.

The latest prisoner releases are “a beginning--it’s a fresh development in our nation’s life,” said Dan Agbese, editor-in-chief of Newswatch, a respected weekly newsmagazine, from his office in Lagos. “We are entering a new era of respect for human rights and dignity. The [prisoner] release will bring some relief to the nation. People can see at least one battle has been won. That battle is freedom. And we can go on from here.”

Agbese noted that tensions had lessened markedly on the streets of Lagos and an atmosphere of calm had been restored since the death of Abacha, who was condemned around the world for the way he had violated Nigerians’ human rights. Nigeria was suspended from the British Commonwealth in 1995 after the military regime ordered the execution of activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight others.

In Washington, the Clinton administration welcomed Annan’s announcement but said the United States will be watching closely to see if the Nigerian regime follows through.

“We have always believed that the release of political prisoners could be a key step in the transition to civilian government,” State Department spokesman James P. Rubin said. “We hope these steps will be taken soon. Taking those steps would increase our optimism about the commitment of the new Nigerian leadership to respect human rights and to ensuring swift transition to civilian democratic rule in Nigeria.”

Rubin announced that a high-level U.S. delegation led by Thomas R. Pickering, undersecretary of State for political affairs, and including Susan E. Rice, assistant secretary of State for African affairs, will visit Nigeria next week.

“The purpose of the visit is to offer our support for the new leadership’s recent release of political prisoners and to discuss steps we think could facilitate the transition to democratic civilian government in Nigeria,” Rubin said. “This visit underscores the importance we attach to democracy and reform in this important country in Africa.”

Although he cited earlier releases of political prisoners, Rubin said the delegation’s visit to Nigeria is not contingent on the new government keeping its promise to release all remaining prisoners, a process that he said may take some time.

The United States, which imports about 50% of oil-rich Nigeria’s output, had been criticized by some members of the world community for helping to prop up the Abacha regime, branded as being one of Africa’s most oppressive.

Some Nigerian scholars and human rights activists warn that Abubakar’s government could easily turn out to be just as brutal. It also would have to do more than just open jail cells to win credibility among Nigeria’s masses.

“The release of political prisoners doesn’t amount to much,” said Morenike Ransome-Kuti, a lawyer whose father, Beko Ransome-Kuti, a human rights activist, was among the first nine prominent prisoners to be released by Abubakar on June 15.

“The substantive steps to be taken thereafter” are what counts, said Ransome-Kuti, who added: “It’s far from being called a new era at this stage. Abubakar has no legitimacy whatsoever. There’s no point being taken in by his cosmetic measures at this time.”

Chinedu Karl E. Uchegbu, of the Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law in the Niger River delta town of Port Harcourt, noted that Nigeria’s government, by releasing all the remaining political prisoners, would simply be fulfilling its obligations. “These are people who were actually not meant to be [in jail] anyway,” Uchegbu said.

If Abubakar truly wishes to win popular support and approval for his rule, he must promote a plan to guarantee free and fair presidential elections, promote true democracy and restore civilian rule, observers said.

Abacha, Nigeria’s late strongman, had proffered what he called a political reform plan, in which the military regime would be replaced by an elected government. But Nigerians shunned his proposal, saying it hardly represented a democratic choice, as he was to be the only candidate for the Aug. 1 presidential elections.

As for Abubakar, critics are unimpressed by his record so far. “The same polices are in place,” Uchegbu said. “We expected him to reconstruct the Abacha agenda. So far, nothing has changed. The bottom line remains the military cannot devise democracy in Nigeria. It is not a military tradition to bestow democracy on anybody.”

Times staff writer Norman Kempster in Washington contributed to this report.