The former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon has recounted how he pleaded with late Gen. Sani Abacha not to execute former Niageria’s President, Olusegun Obasanjo over the alleged coup plot in 1995.

Gowon who spoke at the first edition of the Interdenominational Unity Christmas Carol and Praise Festival organised by the Plateau Government narrated how Obasanjo was arrested in 1995 by Gen. Sani Abacha and convicted of being part of a planned coup to overthrow his government.

According to the former leader, Obasanjo spent three years in prison before he was released in 1998 after the death of Abacha on June 8 of that year.

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He said, “I wrote a letter to Abacha, I pleaded with him that God made him a leader to do good and not evil.

“I sent my wife with the letter in the middle of the night to Abacha in Abuja; I pleaded with him that such a thing should not happen.

“I’m glad that soon after that, things changed, and not only that Obasanjo leave prison, he became our president in 1999.

“This is something that only prayers and sincerity can do; I’m happy that today myself and Obasanjo are here to celebrate the unity of Plateau.”