Why I didn't appear before Oputa panel - Abacha's Frank Omenka

Frank Omenka, a retired colonel and former commander of the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) Security Group under the late Head of State, Sani Abacha, claims he only learnt about the Oputa Panel about 12 years after it concluded.

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Although the panel’s sittings were televised in Nigeria and reported by local and international media, Mr Omenka, who faced several human rights accusations before the panel, said he did not learn of its existence until 12 years later.

At a virtual interview with journalists on 25 June, Mr Omenka also denied raping a teenager and eventually causing her death, one of the many human rights violations he was accused of at the Oputa panel.

The interview was Mr Omenka’s first public appearance in more than three decades. For years, he had remained one of the most controversial figures associated with the Abacha regime, with former detainees, journalists and human rights activists accusing him of torture, intimidation and other abuses during military investigations. He, however, denied all the allegations and insisted he merely carried out his professional duties.

Mr Omenka made the latest remarks during a three-hour virtual panel discussion organised by Experiential Leadership in Africa (TEL-Africa), in partnership with PREMIUM TIMES.

The panel, moderated by TEL-Africa’s Adeolu Adewumi, featured PREMIUM TIMES publisher Dapo Olorunyomi, TheNews Magazine executive editor Kunle Ajibade and PREMIUM TIMES managing editor Idris Akinbajo.

Throughout the session, the panellists questioned Mr Omenka over allegations of torture, wrongful detention and other human rights abuses linked to military investigations in the 1990s.

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Why I did not appear before the Oputa Panel – Omenka

Asked why he never appeared before the Human Rights Violations Investigation Commission, popularly known as the Oputa Panel, despite being mentioned in several testimonies before the commission, Mr Omenka said he was unaware the panel was sitting.

“I didn’t know the panel was even on,” he said.

He explained that after leaving Nigeria, he deliberately cut himself off from developments back home because of what he described as the painful end of his military career.

“I switched off from Nigeria. It was painful,” he said.

Mr Omenka said he lived in isolation abroad and avoided contact with other Nigerians.

Even though the panel summoned him and others who failed to appear before it, Mr Omenka challenged the interviewers to verify whether the commission ever invited him.

“You are journalists. Go and find out whether the panel sent a message to me and I refused to come,” he said. “I knew about the Oputa Panel about 12 years after it had ended.”

His explanation was questioned by the panellists, who noted that several senior officials of the Abacha government appeared before the commission to defend their actions. Numerous former political detainees, journalists, labour activists and military officers also testified before the panel, with several specifically mentioning Mr Omenka in accounts of detention and interrogation.

The Oputa Panel was established in 1999 by then-President Olusegun Obasanjo to investigate gross human rights violations committed during the years of military rule.

Rape allegation resurfaces

The interview took a dramatic turn when the moderator, Mr Adewumi, referred to testimony presented before the Oputa Panel alleging that a young woman arrested during a military operation was sexually assaulted while in the custody of Mr Omenka’s security group.

According to archived records of the panel’s proceedings, witnesses alleged in 2000 that Mr Omenka raped and impregnated an 18-year-old detainee, Bunmi Samuel. The records also stated that she later died from abortion complications after her release.

Mr Omenka initially deflected the question but subsequently denied the allegation.

“I don’t know where the Security Group became a laboratory for making love to people,” he said.

ALSO READ: I have nothing to apologise for, Abacha’s former security chief says

He said the young woman and a teenage boy were taken into custody after security operatives searched a residence while pursuing adult suspects. According to him, the adults escaped, leaving the two behind.

Mr Omenka said both teenagers were taken to a military facility for their safety. He added that the boy was later released after his mother arrived with documents from the British High Commission confirming his identity.

He insisted that neither of them was abused while in custody.

“People make up stories just to soil names because they had suffered pain,” he said.

PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that Mr Omenka also rejected longstanding allegations that he tortured detainees during military investigations, arguing that he had nothing to apologise for.

He maintained that his role was limited to investigating suspects and not deciding their guilt or punishment. He said he sometimes used intimidating language during interrogations but never physically assaulted anyone.

“I did my job. I didn’t kill anybody. I didn’t touch anybody. I carried out my job professionally,” he said.

“There is no room for apology because I have not committed any offence. My duty was to investigate,” he said.

Former detainees on the panel disputed his account, arguing that his interrogation methods contributed to wrongful convictions, prolonged detention and the suffering of many victims during the Abacha era.