Posted by Henry Ojelu on
The man in the above picture on the left, wearing a white kaftan with a cap is Dr. Frederick Faseun, the founder of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC).
The man in the above picture on the left, wearing a white kaftan with a cap is Dr. Frederick Faseun, the founder of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC).
He is seen in that picture chatting with Major Hamza Al Mustapha, the dreaded former Chief Security Officer to the late maximum ruler, General Sani Abacha, who was responsible for the death of several pro-democracy activists, including the winner of June 12, 1993 presidential election, Basorun MKO Abiola. Mustapha is currently standing trial for the murder of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, wife of Basorun Abiola.
Some activists who were slained by the death squads of the infamous Abacha regime were Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, wife of Basorun MKO Abiola, Pa Alfred Rawane, Bagauda Kaltha TheNEWS correspondent, Alhaja Suliat Adedeji, Seyi Omatsola, former chief security officer at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja who was bombed to death by goons of Abacha and others.
At the height of the Abacha terror, Faseun with the late Dr. Beko Ransome Kuti, late Kudirat Abiola, Pa Anthony Erahoro, Pa Sholanke Onasanya, Onaolapo Soleye, late Pa Abraham Adesanya (who was shot by Abacha's men at close range but did not die), Chief Ayo Adebanjo, Alhaji Ganiyu Dawodu, late Chief Bola Ige, Chief Olu Falae and others were at the forefront of the opposition against Abacha's dictatorship.
In fact, OPC was founded at this crucial period to fight the marginalisation and oppression of the Yoruba by the military junta.
Now, to think that the man who championed the cause of the Yoruba against the Abacha dictatorship which killed many Yoruba activists is now the one hobnobbing with Abacha's agent of death, Mustapha, is really a tragedy. It is a tragedy to the memory of the dead members of OPC who lost their lives during this period. It is tragic and painful because with Faseun's interaction with these enemies of the people, those who died in the course of enthroning democracy in the country would be seen to have died in vain.
Of late Faseun has been a regular at the Ikeja High Court in solidarity with Mustapha. He even went to the Kano residence of late Abacha where he extolled the late General. What a tragic metarmorphosis!