Maryam Abacha

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Maryam Abacha (born 4 March 1947, Kaduna) is the widow of Sani Abacha, de facto President of Nigeria from 1993 to 1998.

After the death of Sani Abacha in June 1998, Maryam Abacha attempted to leave Nigeria with suitcases filled with money.[1] She was arrested, placed on 24-hour surveillance, and banned from leaving Nigeria.[2] In 1999 Maryam Abacha said that her husband acted in the good will of Nigeria; an official of the Nigerian government said that Maryam Abacha said that to convince the government to grant her a reprieve, as the president, Olusegun Obasanjo, had been jailed by Sani Abacha.[3] As of 2000 Maryam Abacha remained in Nigeria.[4]

Maryam and Sani Abacha had three daughters and six sons.[5] Maryam Abacha's eldest surviving son is Mohammed Abacha.[2]

Legacy

Maryam Abacha founded National Hospital Abuja (originally National Hospital For Women And Children).[6] The Maryam Abacha Women and Children Hospital in Sokoto State[7] is named after her.[8]

Her name was often used in various advance fee fraud scams and therefore the name "Maryam Abacha" became associated with advance fee fraud.[9][10][11][12][13][14][15]

References

  1. ↑ "Nigeria recovers Abacha's cash". BBC News. 1998-11-10. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Chhabra, Hari Sharan (2000-12-17). "After Mobutu, it's Abacha". The Tribune. 
  3. ↑ "Abacha widow breaks her silence." BBC.
  4. ↑ "Nigeria, at last, strikes at corruption.." Chicago Tribune.
  5. ↑ "Newsmaker Profiles: Sani Abacha Nigerian President." CNN. 8 April 2004. Retrieved on 12 February 2009.
  6. ↑ "Nigeria: Late president Abacha's wife visits ailing son, pleads for his release." BBC Archive. 12 December 2001. Retrieved on 12 February 2009.
  7. ↑ "GOVERNOR BAFARAWA'S GENERAL ADMINISTRATION." Sokoto State.
  8. ↑ "Ambassador John Campbell’s Remarks Commissioning of the Fistula Center, Clinic for Women At Maryam Abacha Women and Children Hospital." U.S. Embassy of Nigeria.
  9. ↑ Zuckoff, Mitchell. "The Perfect Mark." The New Yorker. 3.
  10. ↑ "International email scams score billions with offer of millions.," Fort Worth Star-Telegram
  11. ↑ "E-Mail Offer Is Scheme to Defraud Visa Seekers." The New York Times.
  12. ↑ "Imagine what the millions would do to our FDI numbers!." Business Times.
  13. ↑ "If It's From Nigeria, Hit Delete." The Motley Fool.
  14. ↑ "File-sharing war won't go away; it'll just go abroad." USA Today.
  15. ↑ "Snail-Mail Money Scammers Take an Old Refrain Online." The Wall Street Journal.

External links

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