A major assassination attempt during Nigeria’s military era continues to stand as one of the most chilling reminders of repression under late Head of State Sani Abacha.
On February 2, 1996, Alex Ibru—publisher of The Guardian and former Minister of Internal Affairs—was attacked by gunmen along Falomo Bridge in Lagos.
Ibru was reportedly ambushed while returning from an official engagement, with his vehicle sprayed with bullets by assailants suspected to be linked to state security operatives.
The attack left him with severe injuries, including the loss of one eye and two fingers. He was initially treated in Lagos before being flown abroad for further medical care.
Despite surviving the attempt on his life, the incident underscored the dangers faced by perceived critics and political actors during the Abacha regime. The military government at the time had been widely accused of suppressing dissent, with several high-profile cases of intimidation, detention, and assassination attempts.
Following Abacha’s death in 1998, his Chief Security Officer, Hamza al-Mustapha, alongside others, was charged in connection with the attempted murder of Ibru and related cases. However, after years of legal proceedings, those accused were eventually acquitted by the courts.
Ibru went on to live for over a decade after the attack before passing away in November 2011 at the age of 66.
The assassination attempt remains one of several incidents frequently cited by analysts and historians as evidence of the human rights climate under military rule in Nigeria during the 1990s.
