A retired military officer, Col. Bello Fadile, has shared a personal story of how the late Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mohammed Lawal Uwais, played a vital role in saving his life during the 1995 alleged coup under the regime of the late General Sani Abacha.
Fadile, a highly educated officer who holds a Doctorate in International Law and is Nigeria’s first military-trained lawyer, was one of the senior officers accused of plotting a coup against Abacha’s government. He was arrested, tried by a military tribunal, and sentenced to death — along with other notable Nigerians, including Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, Maj. Gen. Shehu Yar’Adua, and Brig. Gen. Lawan Gwadabe.
In a heartfelt tribute, Fadile described how Justice Uwais stepped in when few others dared to speak up. “Detained near his (Uwais) house and I sent a note to him as the then CJN, without hesitation or fear of the military, his life or his job, he acted on my request,” Fadile recounted.
According to him, Justice Uwais reached out to another respected judge, the late Justice Karibi-Whyte, and the two began engaging the military leadership behind the scenes.
“They became my link to the Head of State, going and coming back with messages. What man with a lion heart,” Fadile said, describing the level of courage shown by Uwais during the military dictatorship.
After Fadile’s release in March 1999, Justice Uwais reportedly traveled from Abuja to Kaduna to visit him, bringing clothes, fabric, and cash. “That was my Father in the Judiciary for you,” Fadile said, overwhelmed by the gesture. He also recalled their last meeting in November 2024 — a final reunion before Uwais’s death.
Fadile notes the late jurist’s deep sense of fairness, commitment to justice, and quiet strength. He referred to Uwais’s famous warning: “A corrupt judge is more harmful to society than a man who runs amok with a dagger in a crowded street.” This, Fadile said, reflects the values Uwais lived and worked by.
Now the founder and chairman of the Council for African Security Affairs, Fadile stressed that Uwais’s legacy should guide the current judiciary.
Part of the statement read: “At the ripe age of 89, he left us in this sinful world as Allah SWT willed. We accept the vadict as appeal lies nowhere. To we the immediate families, we pray to Allah SWT to give us the fortitude to carry on relying on the principles he lived on and left for us which are:- humility, impartiality, humane, love, detribalised, uprightness and fear of Almighty Allah SWT.
“And to the Nigerian judiciary which he dedicated his life to, i urge you all to follow his footsteps, which he captured brilliantly;
‘ A corrupt judge is more harmful to the society than a man who runs amok with a dagger in a crowded street. The latter can be restrained physically. But a corrupt judge deliberately destroys the moral foundation of society and causes incalculable distress to individuals through abusing his office while still being referred to as Honorable “
“ As captured in my book, Lives: The Bello Fadile Memoirs, I shall forever be grateful to My Lord, the Justice Mohammed Lawal Uwais GCON for the risk he took when I was arrested for the alleged fathom coup in 1995.”
Justice Mohammed Lawal Uwais passed away at the age of 89. According to Fadile, the late jurist left behind not just a legacy of legal rulings, but a moral example — one marked by humility, fairness, and courage in the face of danger.
