Muhammadu Buhari 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! === Consolidation of power === The structure of the new military leadership—the fifth in [[Nigeria]] since independence—resembled the last military regime, the [[Olusegun Obasanjo|Obasanjo]]/[[Shehu Musa Yar'Adua|Yaradua]] administration. The new regime established a Supreme Military Council, a Federal Executive Council and a Council of States.{{sfn|Graf|1988|p=150}} The number of ministries was trimmed to 18, while the administration carried out a retrenchment exercise among the senior ranks of the civil service and police. It retired 17 permanent secretaries and some senior police and naval officers. In addition, the new military administration promulgated new laws to achieve its aim. These laws included the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Decree for the prosecution of armed robbery cases, and the State Security (Detention of Person) Decree, which gave powers to the military to detain individuals suspected of jeopardizing state security or causing economic adversity.{{sfn|Graf|1988|p=153}} Other decrees included the Civil Service Commission and Public Offenders Decree, which constituted the legal and administrative basis to conduct a purge in the civil service.{{sfn|Graf|1988|p=153}} According to Decree Number 2 of 1984, the state security and the chief of staff were given the power to detain, without charges, individuals deemed to be a security risk to the state for up to three months.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ab5d3c.html|title=Nigeria: Repeal of Decree 2|date=1 October 1998|website=refworld.org|access-date=19 January 2015|archive-date=20 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150120114352/http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ab5d3c.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Strikes and popular demonstrations were banned and Nigeria's security agency, the [[National Security Organization]] (NSO) was entrusted with unprecedented powers. The NSO played a wide role in the cracking down of public dissent by intimidating, harassing and jailing individuals who broke the interdiction on strikes. By October 1984, about 200,000 civil servants were retrenched.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://naijapolitica.com/2014/12/04/the-untold-tales-of-gen-buhari-a-must-read/|title=THE UNTOLD TALES OF GEN. BUHARI ... [a must read]|date=4 December 2014|website=Naija Politica|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150120004503/http://naijapolitica.com/2014/12/04/the-untold-tales-of-gen-buhari-a-must-read/|archive-date=20 January 2015}}</ref> Buhari mounted an offensive against entrenched interests. In 20 months as Head of State, about 500 politicians, officials and businessmen were jailed for corruption during his stewardship.<ref name="autogenerated422">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12890807|title=Nigeria's Muhammadu Buhari in profile|date=17 April 2011|work=BBC News|access-date=20 April 2011|archive-date=20 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110420211645/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12890807|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Urgent_Action/apic_52396.html|title=Nigeria: Human Rights Watch Africa|date=10 May 1996|website=africa.upenn.eu|access-date=19 January 2015|archive-date=15 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150315211922/http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Urgent_Action/apic_52396.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Detainees were released after releasing sums to the government and agreeing to meet certain conditions. The regime also jailed its critics, including [[Fela Kuti]].<ref name="amnesty2">{{cite web|url=http://static.amnesty.org/ai50/fela_kuti_en.pdf|title=Fela Kuti, PoC, Nigeria|date=2010|website=amnesty.org|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150404020006/http://static.amnesty.org/ai50/fela_kuti_en.pdf|archive-date=4 April 2015|quote=On numerous occasions he was detained and harassed by the authorities}}</ref> He was arrested on 4 September 1984 at the airport as he was about to embark on an American tour. [[Amnesty International]] described the charges brought against him for illegally exporting foreign currency as "spurious". Using the wide powers bestowed upon it by Decree Number 2, the government sentenced Fela to five years in prison. He was released after 18 months,<ref name="amnesty2" /> when the Buhari regime was overthrown. In 1984, Buhari passed Decree Number 4, the Protection Against False Accusations Decree,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ogbondah|first=Chris|date=1991|title=Origins and Interpretation of Nigerian Press Laws|url=http://archive.lib.msu.edu/DMC/African%20Journals/pdfs/africa%20media%20review/vol5no2/jamr005002006.pdf|journal=Africa Media Review|access-date=19 January 2015|archive-date=24 December 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121224033156/http://archive.lib.msu.edu/DMC/African%20Journals/pdfs/africa%20media%20review/vol5no2/jamr005002006.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> a wide-ranging repressive press law. Section 1 of the law provided that "Any person who publishes in any form, whether written or otherwise, any message, rumour, report or statement [...] which is false in any material particular or which brings or is calculated to bring the Federal Military Government or the Government of a state or public officer to ridicule or disrepute, shall be guilty of an offense under this Decree".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalnetworkonline.com/vol10n40/nondisclosure.html|title=My Stance On 'Non Disclosure' Remains Unshakable – Tunde Thompson|date=9 October 2013|website=nationalnetworkonline.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150120114257/http://www.nationalnetworkonline.com/vol10n40/nondisclosure.html|archive-date=20 January 2015}}</ref> The law further stated that offending journalists and publishers will be tried by an open military tribunal, whose ruling would be final and unappealable in any court and those found guilty would be eligible for a fine not less than 10,000 [[naira]] and a jail sentence of up to two years.<ref>{{Cite web |title=CCT Chairman Advocates Return of Decree 2 to punish Journalists |url=https://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/06/cct-chairman-advocates-return-decree-2-punish-journalists/amp/}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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