In statement shared by the late military general’s media
adviser, Olawale Adekoya, and signed on behalf of the family by Oyesinmilola
Diya, a lawyer and the deceased’s first son, announced the death.
The statement reads in part: “On behalf of the entire Diya
family home and abroad; We announce the passing on to glory of our dear
husband, father, grandfather, brother, Lt- General Donaldson Oladipo Oyeyinka
Diya (Rtd) GCON, LLB, BL, PSC, FSS, mni.
“Our dear daddy passed onto glory in the early hours of 26th
March 2023.
“Please keep us in your prayers as we mourn his demise in
this period. Further announcements will be made public in due course.”
Things to Know about Lt Gen Oladipo Diya
He died at 78, according to a statement on behalf of the
family by Barrister Prince Oyesinmilola Diya.
He was born on Monday, 3 April, 1944 in Odogbolu, Ogun
State, then Western Region, Nigeria.
Diya attended Yaba Methodist School, Lagos from 1950 – 1956
and thereafter proceeded to his hometown, Odogbolu, as a pioneer student of
Odogbolu Grammar School, from 1957 – 1962.
He joined the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna and fought
during the Nigerian civil war. He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in March
1967. He later attended the US Army School of Infantry, the Command and Staff
College, Jaji (1980–1981) and the National Institute for Policy and Strategic
Studies, Kuru. While serving in the military, Diya studied Law at Ahmadu Bello
University, Zaria, where he obtained an LLB degree, and then at the Nigerian
Law School, where he was called to Bar as Solicitor and Advocate of the Supreme
Court of Nigeria.
He became General Officer Commanding 82 Division, Nigeria
Army in 1985 and Commandant, National War College (1991–1993)
He was Military Governor of Ogun State from January 1984 to
August 1985.
General Diya was Commandant, National War College
(1991–1993) and then was appointed Chief of Defence Staff.
In 1993, he was appointed Chief of General Staff and Vice
Chairman of the Provisional Ruling Council in 1994.
He was the former Chief of General Staff, who served as
deputy to the late dictator, Sani Abacha.
In 1997 Diya and dissident soldiers in the military allegedly
planned to overthrow the regime of Sani Abacha. The alleged coup was uncovered
by forces loyal to Abacha, and Diya and his cohorts were jailed.
After his arrest, a military tribunal sitting in the
Nigerian town of Jos sentenced six people including Lieutenant General Oladipo
Diya to death by firing squad in April 1998. The accused were brought to the
main military barracks in Jos for the trial. Security was tight, and the men on
trial were chained at their ankles during the proceedings.
In a dramatic statement at the outset of the trial, General
Diya asserted that he had been entrapped by another officer close to General
Abacha, Gen. Musa Bamaiyi, who approached him with the idea of mounting a coup.
Given the explosive nature of the charge, the government then closed the trial
to the public.
The head of the military tribunal, General Victor Malu, the
former commander of the West African regional peacekeeping force ECOMOG,
responding to Lieutenant General Diya’s defence that people at the very top
framed him, said it was not necessary to know who had initiated the conspiracy.
He noted that all Lieutenant General Diya had to do was prove that he had not
been part of the plot at any stage. General Malu assured the defendants that
they would be given a fair trial and unlimited access to information they
needed to defend themselves. “This tribunal will not conduct or tolerate a
trial by ambush”, he said.
Diya was tried in a military tribunal and was given the
death penalty. Upon the death of Abacha in 1998, Diya was pardoned by the late
Head of State’s successor, Abdusalami Abubakar.