Sani Abacha Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! == Death == On Monday 8 June 1998, Abacha died in the [[Aso Rock Presidential Villa]] in [[Abuja]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Trans-Pacific, Volume 24, Issue 24 - 1936-06-11 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/36722_meao_transpacific_1936-06-11-007 |access-date=2024-02-14 |website=Manchuria Daily News Online}}</ref> He was buried on the same day according to [[Islamic funeral|Muslim tradition]] and without an [[autopsy]], fueling speculation that he may have been assassinated.<ref name="Abacha Profile">{{cite web |title=General Sani Abacha Profile |url=http://www.africa-confidential.com/whos-who-profile/id/2651/ |access-date=19 June 2012 |publisher=Africa Confidential}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Masland |first=Tom |last2=Bartholet |first2=Jeffrey |last3=Johnson |first3=Scott |date=2000-03-13 |title=Tracking Abacha's Billions |url= |journal=Newsweek (Atlantic Edition) |volume=135 |issue=11 |pages=16}}</ref> The government identified the cause of death as a sudden [[Myocardial infarction|heart attack]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Weiner |first=Tim |date=11 July 1998 |title=U.S. Aides Say Nigeria Leader Might Have Been Poisoned |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/11/world/us-aides-say-nigeria-leader-might-have-been-poisoned.html?scp=8&sq=abacha&st=cse |access-date=9 April 2010}}</ref> It is believed by foreign diplomats, including United States Intelligence analysts, that he may have been poisoned.<ref>{{cite news |last=Weiner |first=Tim |date=11 July 1998 |title=U.S. Aides Say Nigeria Leader Might Have Been Poisoned |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/11/world/us-aides-say-nigeria-leader-might-have-been-poisoned.html}}</ref> His chief security officer, Hamza al-Mustapha, believed he was poisoned by Israeli operatives in the company of [[Yasser Arafat]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Opejobi |first=Seun |date=19 June 2017 |title=Details of how Abacha died in 1998 β Al-Mustapha |url=https://dailypost.ng/2017/06/19/details-abacha-died-1998-al-mustapha/ |access-date=24 January 2020 |website=Daily Post Nigeria |language=en-US}}</ref> At the time of his death, he was about to transfer power to a civilian government in October 1998, implemented in October 1995.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/analysis/81060.stm |title=Analysis | Nigeria: General Abacha's era of dictatorship |publisher=BBC News}}</ref> After Abacha's death, General [[Abdulsalami Abubakar]] became head of state, whose short tenure ushered in the [[Fourth Nigerian Republic]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Sani Abacha: Timeline of the late Nigerian dictator's life |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-f9f1cd17-2c50-442e-88fc-e2deb46dbde1 |access-date=27 May 2020 |publisher=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page