Pardon for convicted coup plotters under consideration

A presidential pardon may be “imminent” for former chief of general staff Lieutenant General Oladipo Diya and others who were convicted of plotting a coup last year against the previous head of state, General Sani Abacha, the independent ‘Guardian’ newspaper said today. The chief press secretary to the head of state, Mallam Mohammed Haruna, speaking to reporters in Abuja yesterday, said Nigeria’s current military ruler, General Abdulslami Abubukar, was looking into a plea for the early release of some of the prisoners, including General Diya, former works and housing minister Major General Abdulkareem Adisa and his communications counterpart, Major General Tajudeen Olanrewaju, the ‘Guardian’ wrote. They were among six plotters given the death sentence by a military tribunal, while 15 others received jail terms, the paper added. Abubukar, who replaced Abacha in June after his sudden death, granted a reduction in the sentences of those convicted, but has to date refused to allow their release.