Veteran journalist and publisher of Ovation International Magazine, Dele Momodu, has recounted his escape from Nigeria during the military regime of late General Sani Abacha, describing the emotional experience of fleeing the country through the Seme border on foot.

Speaking on Morayo Afolabi-Brown’s programme, The Morayo Show, Momodu said he left Nigeria in 1995 after receiving information that security operatives were searching for him over his pro-democracy activities.

According to him, the decision to leave his family behind was heartbreaking, especially because his first son was still an infant at the time.

“The morning I was leaving, my first son was less than one year old. He was just lying beside my wife, and I was looking at this innocent child and I was crying,” he said.

Momodu explained that he crossed the Seme border into Cotonou, Benin Republic, alone and on foot in the early hours of the morning.

“I travelled by foot through the Seme border into Cotonou very early in the morning,” he stated.

He added that uncertainty about his future overwhelmed him after arriving in Cotonou.

“When I got to Cotonou, I started crying again because I wasn’t sure where I was going? When will I get there? Will I get there? When will I come back? Will I come alive?” he recalled.

Momodu noted that the three years he spent in exile between 1995 and 1998 later shaped his career and public life, including the establishment of Ovation International magazine in London.

“If I had not gone on that journey, there would be no Ovation today,” he said.

The publisher said he remained committed to democratic principles despite later political disagreements with some former pro-democracy allies, including President Bola Tinubu, whom he said he worked alongside during the struggle against military rule.

“I was in exile from 1995 to 1998, and I know what we went through. But I refused to join APC only for one reason, we must maintain that democracy which we suffered for,” he said.

Momodu also reflected on his difficult upbringing, revealing that he lost his father at the age of 13 and survived through teaching and other small jobs before becoming successful.

“That’s how I rose to where I am today,” he added.

Momodu fled Nigeria on July 22, 1995, after being accused of involvement with Radio Freedom, a pirate radio station later known as Radio Kudirat, which opposed the Abacha regime and supported the June 12 democratic struggle led by MKO Abiola.

After leaving Nigeria, he travelled through Togo and Ghana before eventually settling in the United Kingdom, where he joined other NADECO exiles in advocating for the restoration of democracy in Nigeria.