How We Protected Tell Magazine Under The Abacha Regime - Oshiomhole Speaks Up

Adams Oshiomhole

All Progressive Congress (APC) National Chairman Adams Oshiomhole has explained how Tell Magazine survived military onslaught during the era of the late Head of State, General Sani Abacha, The Nation reports.

The magazine continued to publish, even when it was proscribed by the Abacha-led military junta.

Tell, which was a torn in the flesh of the military government, went underground as copies from its stable were seized and burnt regularly while security operatives went after its editors and reporters.

Undeterred by the military onslaught, the editors went on publishing from their hideout, giving birth to what was then called “Guerrilla Journalism”.

But on Wednesday, Oshiomhole revealed how his union, the Textile Garment and Tailoring Workers, provided accommodation for the magazine, thereby shielding it from military persecution.

The APC National Chairman was the National Secretary of the over 75,000 workers under the union.

He spoke at Tell magazine’s 20 years of democracy conference 2019 with the theme: ‘Democracy and the Rule of Law’.

Oshiomhole narrated how his union shielded the magazine to enable it continue to publish even when it was proscribed by the government of the day.

He said: “One thing he (the magazine’s President/Editor-in-Chief Nosa Igiebor) did not tell you is that I was once his landlord. We provided accommodation for him and his team. We also provided cover for him. They were afraid to come to our building so as to avoid trouble.

“There were times that they (security) would mistakenly stray into my office when they came to look for him.”

On the subject matter, the APC national chairman said improvement in the electoral process is outside the realm of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) when other stakeholders fail to do the right thing.

He added that logistics challenge the electoral body faced during elections are sometimes deliberate.