According to an exclusive interview with Edmund Obilo on September 4, 2025, General Alabi Isama recently shared a startling account of an encounter that led to his unexpected detention.
The retired military officer recounted being summoned by General Gowon for what he believed was an urgent meeting, only to find himself caught in a whirlwind of events that ended with him waking up at Kiri Kiri prison.
According to Isama, he received a message from General Gowon to meet him around 7:00 p.m.
Upon arriving at the designated location, he discovered Gowon was engaged in a high-level discussion with Togo’s President, Yadema.
Isama was promptly informed of his arrival, and Gowan instructed him to enter the meeting room.
Describing the moment, Isama said he marched in with such vigor that he nearly injured himself, emphasizing the formality and intensity of the occasion.
However, the meeting took an unexpected turn. General Gowon, preoccupied with his discussion with President Yadema, reportedly dismissed Isama abruptly, instructing aides to “take him away.”
Confused but exhausted from the day’s events, Isama recalled retreating to his Land Rover, where he fell asleep.
To his shock, when he awoke, he found himself at Kiri Kiri, a notorious detention facility, with no immediate explanation for his transfer.
In his words, “So General Gowan has sent for me. But when I got there, it was like about 7:00 p.m, and he was at a meeting with the president of Togo, Yade. And then they went to tell him that Alabi is here. so he told me to come in. If you see the way I marched there and bang my foot, I almost broke my back. Then he said, ‘well, look, I’m at a meeting with Yade, take him away.’ He just said, ‘take him away.’ So, that I was tired and I slept in the Land Rover, by the time I woke up, I was at Kiri Kiri.”
