ITT: The "Trojan Horse" That Bought Nigeria | The M.K.O. Abiola Corporate Front

 

• The ITT and CIA Connection: A prominent and long-standing historical narrative suggests that Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (M.K.O.) Abiola’s massive wealth was heavily tied to his position as the Chairman of International Telephone & Telegraph (ITT) in Nigeria during the 1970s oil boom. Critics and conspiracy researchers have frequently pointed out that ITT globally had documented ties to American intelligence operations (specifically the CIA), leading to regional rumors that his telecommunications monopoly acted as a corporate front or infiltration vehicle for Western interests.
• Fela Kuti’s Radical Critique: Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti famously institutionalized this critique in his 1979 song ITT (International Thief Thief). Fela directly attacked Abiola and Obasanjo, calling out corporate neo-colonialism and portraying Abiola not as a hero, but as a local enabler of foreign exploitation who inflated contracts to siphon Nigeria's wealth.

The Oputa Panel Testimonies & Military Context

• Israeli-Trained Strike Force: The video clip features Sgt. Barnabas Jabila (popularly known as Sergeant Rogers), a key operative of the specialized military Strike Force under General Sani Abacha’s regime (1:02). As documented in his testimony before the Oputa Panel—the Human Rights Violations Investigation Commission chaired by Justice Chukwudifu Oputa—Rogers confirmed that members of this elite security subunit were trained by Israeli security experts in anti-terrorism courses conducted at the SSS training school (10:30).
• The Assassination of Kudirat Abiola: Rogers openly confessed during these hearings to his direct involvement in state-sponsored assassinations on the orders of Major Hamza Al-Mustapha (Abacha's Chief Security Officer) (1:42). This included the high-profile targeted assassination of M.K.O. Abiola's wife, Kudirat Abiola, who was gunned down in Lagos in 1996 for aggressively campaigning for her husband’s release and the restoration of his June 12, 1993 presidential mandate (15:58).
• The "Need to Know" Disconnect: The testimonies show that operators like Rogers were deliberately told by their superiors that they were hunting down external "terrorists" trying to break Nigeria apart (18:14). This underscores the argument that if Abiola or his family ever possessed deep, protective intelligence ties with organizations like the CIA or Mossad, those channels failed to trigger or protect them against the highly localized, insular machinery of the Abacha regime's Strike Force (13:09).

The Demise of Sani Abacha and M.K.O. Abiola

• The Sudden Deaths of 1998: The sudden deaths of both General Sani Abacha (June 1998) and M.K.O. Abiola (July 1998) within one month of each other generated massive, deeply entrenched political mythology.
• Abacha’s Death: Officially attributed to a sudden heart attack, Abacha’s death immediately sparked unverified physical-life rumors and tabloid reports involving poisoning via a group of foreign prostitutes (often cited as Liberian or Indian), though these claims were never forensically validated.
• Abiola’s Death and the "Tea Myth": Abiola died in military custody on July 7, 1998, during a meeting with an official American delegation that included US Under Secretary of State Susan Rice and Ambassador Thomas Pickering. 
• Because Abiola was known to refuse food from local captors out of fear of poisoning, a widespread historical theory emerged that he trusted the American envoys and fell ill immediately after drinking a cup of tea served during that specific meeting. While official international autopsies concluded he died of severe natural heart disease, the timing created an enduring suspicion of geopolitical assassination designed to clear the political slate for Nigeria's transition to civilian rule in 1999.