Former military leaders fail to appear before commission

Former military rulers Ibrahim Babangida and Muhammadu Buhari have failed to appear at a public hearing of a panel investigating three decades of human rights abuses in Nigeria, news organisations reported. The commission had summoned them for Tuesday. "This is a disrespect to the commission," AFP quoted its chairman, Chukwudifu Oputa, as saying. Buhari was Nigeria's ruler from 1884 to mid-1985, while Babangida ruled from mid-1985 to mid-1993. AFP said their refusal to submit to questioning was the second blow to the panel this week. On Monday, another former military ruler, retired general Abdulsalami Abubakar, also failed to show up. Abubakar, who ruled Nigeria for 11 months in 1998 and 1999, had been called in connection with the death in custody of opposition politician Moshood Abiola. He sent his attorney to answer questions on his behalf, but the lawyer for the Abiola family said Abubakar would have to appear in person. The commission said it would consider a ruling on the non-appearance of the three generals to be announced at a later date, AFP added. Modelled partly on South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the human rights panel was set up by Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo to uncover rights abuses and find ways to promote reconciliation. "This commission is a serious commission, established to do a serious job of reaching the truth and forging reconciliation," AFP quoted Obasanjo as saying when he appeared before the body last week.