Melissa E. Crow and Clement Nwankwo

THE CLOSED TRIALS of some fifty alleged coup plotters, including
former Head of State General Olusegun Obasanjo and former Deputy
Head of State Major-General Shehu Musa Yar' Adua, in June 1995,
riveted the attention of the international community on the progressive
disintegration of the rule of law in Nigeria. The accused, who included
active and retired military personnel, as well as civilians, were tried by a
seven-man military tribunal headed by Brigadier-General Patrick Aziza.
Their trials were devoid of many due process guarantees required under
international law, including access to independent and freely chosen
legal counsel and the right of appeal to a higher court. Critics of the
regime of General Sani Abacha, who seized power in a 1993 military
coup, claim that the government fabricated the coup to perpetuate its
tenure. Whether or not such claims are justified, the aftermath of the so-
called coup attempt and the execution subsequently of Ken Saro-Wiwa
and eight other Ogoni activists in November, 1995, highlighted the
Abacha regime's apparent indifference to international human rights
standards and generated much concern, both locally and internationally,
about the future of the Nigerian federation.

There is a pressing need for new strategies to halt the continuing
downward spiral of repression in Nigeria. NGOs, particularly those that
focus on human rights, have played an important role in focusing atten-
tion on the flagrant abuses perpetrated by the Abacha regime. They have

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