Gunmen in Nigeria Slay Wife Of Jailed Opposition Leader

Unknown gunmen today shot and killed an outspoken wife of detained Nigerian presidential claimant Moshood Abiola, doctors said.

Kudirat Abiola, 44, who had been campaigning for the release of her husband, was shot while being driven along a Lagos street. She was rushed to Eko Hospital here where doctors said they were unable to save her life. Her driver, who was also shot, died several hours later.

Witnesses said the two were shot at close range by three men in a car.

A police spokesman said, "There was an incident in which some hoodlums fired at their car."

The attack was immediately condemned by the United States. State Department spokesman Glyn Davies said it was too soon to tell whether the killing was politically motivated, "but it does appear to have been an assassination, not an intended robbery."

Democracy activists here reacted angrily to the incident. "This is a very bad omen for the nation," said Shina Loremikan, a spokesman for the umbrella group Campaign for Democracy. "We need an immediate return to democracy because the military regime with all its might still cannot guarantee the safety of life," he said.

South African Foreign Minister Alfred Nzo called the attack horrifying and urged the military government to free Moshood Abiola. "It would be encouraging if, based on calls previously made as well as on humanitarian grounds, Chief Abiola could now be released," Nzo said in a statement.

Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation with perhaps 100 million people, has been in crisis since June 1993 when a presidential election was annulled by then-ruling generals. Abiola, a millionaire businessman, has been detained in the capital, Abuja, since June 1994 when he proclaimed himself president based on the annulled vote. He faces treason charges, but the case has been stalled since August 1994.

Kudirat Abiola was a prominent figure in the campaign to secure the release of her husband -- who has several other wives and dozens of children -- and to install him as president. Rumors that she had been assassinated swept Lagos, the center of opposition to Nigeria's military government.

She is the second public figure to be attacked in Lagos traffic this year. Alex Ibru, publisher of a leading independent newspaper was similarly shot in February. He survived, was treated in England and has not returned.