President Muhammadu Buhari has revealed his ordeal when he was removed from office as military Head of State in 1985 by General Ibrahim Babangida (rtd.): “Not many people may remember: I spent most of the 40 months of my detention, following the 1985 coup, in a small bungalow here in Benin.”

Before now, in an exclusive interview the president disclosed why his colleagues in the army plotted against him: “I learnt that Aliyu Gusau, who was in charge of intelligence, took import licence from the ministry of commerce which was in charge of supplies and gave it to Alhaji Mai Deribe. It was worth N100,000, a lot of money at that time. I confronted them and took the case to the Army council in a memo…I wanted Gusau punished.”