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Re: Chief Alfred Rewane
Dear Sirs, I have just read the tribute to the late Chief Alfred Ogbeyiwa Rewane on your site, written by Mister Gbolabo Ogunsanwo. I have never in my life read a tribute such as he made for my respected friend Chief Alfred. Every word he said about him is true, wonderful, honest, believe me, I still have tears in my eyes. I met Chief Rewane 1982 in Austria, I had the honor to make the drawings for his house in Warri. From 1982 to 1992 I traveled very often to the building site in Warri to organize everything, we met in Switzerland, Austria and in London, I also met his wife, Miss Doris in London and Lagos. Until now I only had a small notice of a friend in Lagos about his assassination and I did not know much about it. Today I read some articles of amnesty international about Africa, because I visited Rwanda in january 1999 and -with the help of the Rwandese Government and the RPA- I saw all the genocidsites there. In that article of "Amnesty International" I saw the name of Alfred Rewane, I enclose a copy: .......... "Victims of human rights violations and human rights defenders in Nigeria have raised questions about responsibility for the deaths in custody of political prisoners and for political killings suspected of being extra judicial executions by government forces. Two journalists who disappeared in 1996 are also feared to have been extra judicially executed. Senior security officials arrested following the death of General Abacha are reported to have told an internal military inquiry in 1998, which was investigating embezzlement and other offences, about their involvement in human rights violations. These included the establishment of a hit squad to kill government opponents, the extra judicial executions of leading opposition critics, in particular Alfred Rewane in October 1995 and Kudirat Abiola in June 1996, and the framing of defendants in the 1995 and 1998 treason trials. Released prisoners have told the local news media about the torture and ill-treatment of military and civilian defendants in the 1995 and 1998 treason trials. Evidence has also been published in the press of government responsibility for bomb attacks falsely attributed to the opposition, including the attempted assassination of former deputy head of state General Diya shortly before his arrest in December 1997........ " Then I wanted to know more and found some more in the internet about Chief Alfred. When I found the tribute of Mr. Ogunsanwo, I decided to write to you, because he found the words about him, I am sure, nobody could describe him and his character better then he did. I will never forget .....the meetings at the balcony in his house in Ikeja, every sunday afternoon when I left Lagos with Swissair, ....his foible of the mint fresh notes, ....his short, but too long imprisonment in Kirikiri, ....the care taking for a good friend of mine for a recreation in a hospital -same as he did for Mr. Ogunsanwo,- ....his knowledge of economics, political science and world history, .....his loyalty to Chief Awolowo .... it could be a never ending list of a man, which I am happy to have met in my life, a man, I will never forget in my life, a man, I am sure, I never will meet again, a man, I only find one word in the dictionary of togetherness, a FRIEND. In respect of the tribute of Mr.Gbolabo Ogunsanwo for Chief Alfred Rewane. Yours Eng. Wilhelm Mueller Zollgasse 20 A 6714 Nuezidersi.
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