"Abacha's government was accused of human rights abuses, especially after the hanging of Ogoni activist Ken Saro-Wiwa by the Oputa Commission (only one of several executions of Ogoni activists opposed to the exploitation of Nigerian resources by the multinational petroleum company, Royal Dutch Shell Group); Abiola and Olusegun Obasanjo were jailed for treason, and Wole Soyinka charged in absentia with treason.[5] His regime suffered stiff opposition internally and externally by pro-democracy activists who made the regime unpopular, and responded by banning political activity in general and by controlling the press in particular; a significant fraction of the military was purged." [Wikipedia]
""Despite being repeatedly condemned by the U.S. State Department,[7] Abacha did have a few ties to American politics. In 1997, Senator James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) traveled to Nigeria to meet with Abacha as a representative of "The Family", a group of evangelical Christian politicians and civic leaders. Abacha and The Family had a business and political relationship from that point until his death.[8][9]" [Wikipedia]
Inhofe's first "king" was General Sani Abacha, dictator of Nigeria—Africa's most populous nation, as well as the US's fourth-largest supplier of petroleum. Abacha was known for two qualities: the greed that led him to steal $3 billion from his country, and the ruthlessness that made that theft possible. His execution of dissident writer Ken Saro-Wiwa in 1995—two years before Inhofe's first visit—made international headlines. Abacha already had a long record of brutally dispatching opponents, many of whom happened to be critics of the US and the oil industry. But then, as one Family leader has put it, we all make mistakes. "You can't help who you are. I mean, can't he have a friend?"
Inhofe would be that friend. (...)
Nigeria had become a pariah nation by then, and the Clinton administration had condemned Abacha's coup. But its oil continued flowing to the US despite occasional warnings that Congress, or the administration, might impose an embargo. By the time Inhofe, winner of a lifetime service award from a petroleum industry group, went to Nigeria, analysts worried that the signal Abacha was getting from Washington was that the sanctions threat was all but dead." [motherjones.com]
""Despite being repeatedly condemned by the U.S. State Department,[7] Abacha did have a few ties to American politics. In 1997, Senator James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) traveled to Nigeria to meet with Abacha as a representative of "The Family", a group of evangelical Christian politicians and civic leaders. Abacha and The Family had a business and political relationship from that point until his death.[8][9]" [Wikipedia]
Inhofe's first "king" was General Sani Abacha, dictator of Nigeria—Africa's most populous nation, as well as the US's fourth-largest supplier of petroleum. Abacha was known for two qualities: the greed that led him to steal $3 billion from his country, and the ruthlessness that made that theft possible. His execution of dissident writer Ken Saro-Wiwa in 1995—two years before Inhofe's first visit—made international headlines. Abacha already had a long record of brutally dispatching opponents, many of whom happened to be critics of the US and the oil industry. But then, as one Family leader has put it, we all make mistakes. "You can't help who you are. I mean, can't he have a friend?"
Inhofe would be that friend. (...)
Nigeria had become a pariah nation by then, and the Clinton administration had condemned Abacha's coup. But its oil continued flowing to the US despite occasional warnings that Congress, or the administration, might impose an embargo. By the time Inhofe, winner of a lifetime service award from a petroleum industry group, went to Nigeria, analysts worried that the signal Abacha was getting from Washington was that the sanctions threat was all but dead." [motherjones.com]
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