Chief Executive Officer of Ovation International Magazine, Dele Momodu, has shared the emotional story of how he escaped Nigeria during the military rule of Sani Abacha.………
According to a report by Punch on Friday, May 15, 2026, speaking on Morayo Afolabi-Brown’s show, Momodu recalled leaving Nigeria in 1995 after receiving information that security operatives were searching for him because of his pro-democracy activities.
He explained that his first son was less than one year old when he secretly left home. According to him, seeing his baby lying beside his wife before his departure made him break down in tears.
Momodu said he crossed the Seme border into Cotonou on foot very early in the morning. After arriving in the Benin Republic, he became overwhelmed with fear and uncertainty about his future and started crying again because he did not know where he was heading or whether he would survive the journey.
The media publisher lived in exile from 1995 to 1998 after being linked to Radio Freedom, later known as Radio Kudirat, which opposed the Abacha regime and supported the June 12 struggle led by MKO Abiola.
Momodu later travelled through Togo and Ghana before settling in the United Kingdom, where he founded Ovation International magazine in 1996.
In his words, “I travelled by foot through the Seme border into Cotonou very early in the morning. When I got to Cotonou, I started crying again because I wasn’t sure, where am I going? When will I get there? Will I get there? When will I come back? Will I come alive?”
