Former Chief of General Staff under Abacha regime, Oladipo Diya, is dead

Key Highlight

• Lt. General Oladipo Diya, who was a one-time Chief of General Staff under the regime of General Sani Abacha, is dead.
• He died at the age of 78 in the early hours of Sunday, March 26, 2023.
• He was sentenced to death in 1997 after being accused of planning to overthrow Sani Abacha, but his sentence was commuted by the then Head of State after the sudden death of Abacha

The former Chief of General Staff under the administration of the late Head of State, General Sani Abacha, Lt. General Oladipo Diya, has died at the age of 78.

The death of Diya was announced in a statement issued on Sunday morning by his son, Prince Oyesinmilola Diya, who said that he passed on in the early hours of March 26, 2023.

What the statement is saying

The statement from Diya’s son reads,

• “On behalf of the entire Diya family home and abroad; we announce the passing on to the glory of our dear husband, father, grandfather, brother, Lt-General Donaldson Oladipo Oyeyinka Diya (rtd) GCON, LLB, BL, PSC, FSS, mni.’’
• “Our dear Daddy passed onto glory in the early hours of 26th March 2023. Please keep us in your prayers as we mourn his demise in this period. Further announcements will be made public in due course.”

What you should know

• Oladipo Diya was born on April 3, 1944, at Odogbolu in Ogun State, and was educated at the Methodist Primary School, Lagos as well as the Odogbolu Grammar School.
• The former Chief of General Staff joined the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna, and fought during the Nigerian Civil War.
• While serving in the military, Diya studied law at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where he obtained an LLB degree, and then at the Nigerian Law School, where he was called to bar as Solicitor and Advocate of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
• Oladipo Diya was Commander 31, Airborne Brigade. He was appointed Military Governor of Ogun State from January 1984 to August 1985. He became General Officer Commanding the 82 Division, Nigeria Army in 1985. General Oladipo Diya was Commandant, of National War College (1991–1993), and then was appointed Chief of Defence Staff.
• Diya was appointed Chief of General Staff in 1993 and Vice Chairman of the Provisional Ruling Council in 1994. He was second in command and the de facto vice president of Nigeria under Abacha from 1994 as the Chief of the General Staff.
• In 1997 Diya and dissident soldiers in the military were accused of planning to overthrow the regime of Sani Abacha.
• He was arrested and sentenced to death for alleged treason in 1997.
• Diya was tried in a military tribunal where he was given the death penalty.
• Abacha died before Diya’s execution date and the administration of General Abdulsalami Abubakar commuted the sentence and the general was released.
• He lost his wife, Folashade, in 2020.

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