
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 7, 1994                   TAG: 9409070128
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: LAGOS, NIGERIA                                LENGTH: Short

MILITARY RULER BANS PAPERS IN NIGERIA

Flexing his muscles after defeating a pro-democracy strike, Nigeria's military ruler on Tuesday banned newspapers, made it easier to keep opponents in jail and decreed that his regime had absolute power.

Thousands of Nigerian oil workers ended a two-month strike Monday, caving in to the military government of Gen. Sani Abacha.

They went on strike to demand that Abacha surrender power to Moshood K.O. Abiola, who is believed to have won the annulled 1993 presidential election. Abiola is in jail, charged with treason.

The decrees ``unfold an era in which no Nigerian is sure of his or her freedom or sanctity of life,'' said lawyer Gani Fawehinmi, who is defending dozens of jailed critics.

Abacha's decrees show his determination to continue ruling Nigeria, the world's most populous black nation with 90 million people.

- Associated Press

by CNB