By Toye Olori
LAGOS, Aug 25 1997 (IPS)

Pro-democracy activists in Nigeria see jailed politician Moshood Abiola as a symbol of their struggle so they reacted with sadness and anger on Sunday, when they were locked out of his home, where they had planned to mark his 60th birthday.

Abiola was arrested on Jun. 23, 1994, twelve days after he declared himself president of Nigeria on the basis of an election held on Jun. 12, 1993 and whose results were annulled by the military.

Accused of treason, he was granted bail by a court in August 1994, but this was rejected by the government. Since then, he has remained in prison, and has been denied visits by relatives and his doctors.

Worried by reports that his health is failing, Abiola’s family appealed in a letter to head of state Gen. Sani Abacha to be allowed to see the detainee.

“Due to his condition of health which gave his family a lot of concern, I wish to request your excellency for a quick and immediate access to him by me or any member of his family and his personal physician in the person of Dr. Ore Falomo from time to time,” Abiola’s most senior wife, Mariam Adebisi Abiola, requested in the letter.

On Sunday, the Abiola family locked the gates of his residence to pro-democracy activists, who had planned to commemorate his birthday there, forcing them to shift their venue to the home of Lagos lawyer and human rights activist, Gani Fawehinmi.

This prompted a heated reaction from Fawehinmi, who accused the Abiola family of selling out.

“They are working hand in glove with the federal government,” he charged. “They are working to thwart the aspiration of Nigerians. The gate of freedom has been locked against their father and now they lock the gate against Nigerians from celebrating his birthday.”

But there was little sign of collusion between the family and the government in an ad placed in the ‘Sunday Tribune’ newspaper to commemorate Abiola’s birthday and signed by his eldest son, Kola.

“This day marks the 60th birthday,” it ran. “It also marks as many … days of total collapse of governance and the political and economic repression of the majority of the populace. This does not call for any sort of celebration or whatsoever, but a time of solemnity.”

However, the change of venue did not detract from Sunday’s ceremony, attended by high-profile pro-democracy and human rights campaigners as well as the wives of some political detainees.

“The only transition we know is the June 12. No force on earth can stop us from celebrating the birthday of the symbol of truth,” said Fawehinmi, leader of the National Conscience Party. “Abiola is synonymous with peace. We shall resist violence by crusading (for) June 12. To imprison him is to imprison June 12. His imprisonment has cost Nigeria peace and economic progress.”

National Democractic Coalition (NADECO) Deputy Chairman, Abraham Adesanya also stressed that Abiola had become the symbol of the oppressed in Nigeria.

“He has become the rallying point for many who are clamouring for a genuine democracy in our country,” he said. “There will be no solution to Nigeria’s political crisis unless Abiola is released and given his mandate. That is the only path of honour. It is very simple.”

The pro-democracy groups called for the immediate and unconditional release of Abiola and other detainees and the formation of a government of national unity headed by Abiola to replace the present military regime.

Banners on display at Sunday’s commemoration bore captions such as: “Give us June 12, not detention without trial” and “Detention, arrest and assassination cannot erode the mandate. On June 12 we stand”.

Nigeria’s military government has said it will release Abiola and other political detainees on the same day that a promised transition to democracy will end, according to Commonwealth Secretary-General Emeka Anyaoku.

“We have received assurances from the (Nigerian) government … that Chief M.K.O. Abiola and other detainees will be released by Oct. 1, 1998,” Anyaoku said in a recent interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

But that’s not enough for Abiola’s supporters, including people in his hometown of Abeokuta, 111 km north of here.

“I am appealing to the Head of State, General Sani Abacha, and I want Nigerians to join me in appealing to him to please, in the name of Allah, release Abiola and others,” lawyer Toye Coker, spokesperson of the Alake or king of Egbaland (which includes Abeokuta) said at a recent press conference.

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