Posted by PAN-AFRICAN NEWS WIRE on July 10, 1998 at 23:47:45:
Pan-African News Wire, Weekly Dispatch, July 7, 1998
Chief Abiola Is Dead: Nigerian Opposition Leader Dies During Meeting With U.S. Delegation to Nigeria
Abuja, Nigeria, July 7, (PANW)--Reports from the capital of Nigeria indicate that the central opposition figure in the national transition to civilian rule, Chief M.K.O. Abiola, died today during a meeting with a high level American delegation now visiting the country. Chief Abiola has been imprisoned since 1994, when he declared himself president after the annulment of the June 12, 1993 elections in Nigeria that many domestic and international observers declared him to be the winner.
There has been much speculation over the last month, in the aftermath of the sudden death of General Sani Abacha, that Abiola would be released very soon in order to play a leading role in the creation of a new political dispensation in the crisis ridden west African nation, which is the most populous on the continent. Over twenty other leading political prisoners have been released since the death of Abacha and the assumption of power by Abdulsalam Abubakar.
More details on the death of Abiola will be forthcoming. Preliminary reports are still sketchy.
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