A deplorable hide-and-seek game played out yesterday at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja as the ailing Governor Danbaba Suntai of Taraba State was kept away from state’s acting governor and smuggled out of the airport. The whole game, orchestrated by a cabal close to the severely brain injured governor, was part of a design to throw off reporters who had been waiting to meet Mr. Suntai on his arrival from the UK where he had been receiving additional medical treatment.
Friends and associates of the governor as well as reporters had gathered at the local wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport as early as 6:00 p.m. based on information that his plane from the UK would touch down there at 8:00 p.m. Among those waiting to receive the ailing governor were members of the House of Representatives from Taraba State and the Secretary to the Taraba State Government, Gidion Kataps.
But the reporters were soon tipped off that the Minister of State for the Niger Delta, Dahiru Ishiaku, was spotted at the international wing of the airport waiting to receive Mr. Suntai. Consequently, some of the reporters rushed to the international wing where they met the minister, Jolly Nyame, a former governor of Taraba State Governor, a senior Air Force officer, and Mr. Suntai’s lawyer huddled in a conversation. Suddenly, the acting Governor of Taraba State, Umar Garba, arrived at the international airport. Without looking at the huddled officials, Mr. Garba headed toward the VIP lounge, expecting to meet Mr. Suntai. To his surprise, there was nobody at the lounge. As the acting governor waited in the lounge, our correspondent saw a Mercedes Benz car with a customized number “4” and a Toyota Land Cruiser driving out of the tarmac of the international wing, joining the convoy of the Minister of State for the Niger Delta. The convoy zoomed off in high speed to the home of ex-General Theophilus Danjuma in the Asokoro area of Abuja. The convoy’s commando-style exit at top speed was apparently meant to make it impossible for the acting governor’s convoy to catch up with them.
Reporters were initially shut out of Mr. Danjuma’s house, but were later allowed in to take photographs and a short video of Mr. Suntai. They were, however, not allowed to ask any questions of Mr. Suntai, with the promise that the governor would be granting them interviews during the week. When some of the reports greeted the governor, he replied in a very weary voice, “I am coming from Abuja.” As if addressing a child, the SSG asked the governor to wave at the reporters, which Mr. Suntai did.
Mr. Suntai sustained serious physical and brain injuries in late October, 2012 when a plane he was piloting crash near Yola Airport in Adamawa State. The governor’s aide-de-camp and chief security officer as well as three other occupants of the plane, which took off from Jalingo, the Taraba State capital, were also wounded in the crash. Mr. Suntai was airlifted to Germany where he received treatment for months before he was transferred to the US for further treatment at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. On August 23, 2013, Mr. Suntai was flown back into Nigeria after undergoing treatment abroad for ten months.
A cabal close to the injured governor made a number of high-stakes maneuvers aimed at putting him back as the governor, even though he showed signs of severely diminished mental competence as well as physical limitations. The cabal’s plans failed, with the state assembly asking Mr. Umar to continue acting as governor.
In June, Mr. Suntai was airlifted to the UK for further treatment. With his return over the weekend, the cabal close to the injured governor is expected to make a fresh bid to reclaim the governorship seat for Mr. Suntai.
Retired General Danjuma, a former Minister of Defense in the Olusegun Obasanjo administration who has made a huge fortune from his crude oil business, has been named as the major financier of the cabal.