Former presidential aspirant, Alh. Umaru Aliyu Shinkafi on Wednesday died in London after being in and out of the hospital for more than six months.
Shinkafi, who was a former Director-General of the Nigerian Security Organization(NSO), now Department of State Security Service( DSS) from October 1999 to November 1983, was flown abroad in January after a health relapse.
According to sources, the late Marafan Sokoto had initially received treatment at both St. Nicholas Hospital and Reddington Hospital, Ikeja in Lagos before the referral to London became necessary.
A top source, who spoke in confidence, said: “We lost Shinkafi in London at about 4pm where he was flown to in January with some members of his immediate family and three medical doctors.
“In the last six months, he had been battling with his health. But it has pleased Allah to call him home. From Allah we came and unto Him we shall return.
“Arrangements are being made to bring his corpse to Nigeria for burial on or before Friday because of flight logistics.”
He is survived by three wives and five children including the present First Ladies in Kebbi and Zamfara states.
Shinkafi, who opted for a career in the Nigeria Police Force in 1959, was also a graduate of the University of Lagos where he bagged his LLB degree in Law in 1973.
Respected for his specialization in intelligence gathering, Shinkafi was appointed a former Minister of Internal Affairs( now Interior Ministry) in 1975 before he was made the DG of NSO between October 1979 and November 1983 when he resigned from office.
But as the DG NSO, he ran into storm over the deportation of a former Majority Leader of the Borno State, Alhaji Abdurrahman Shugaba Darman in 1981.
Shugaba, who was of the defunct Great Nigeria Peoples Party (GNPP) was accused of alleged “assassination plot against tex-President Shehu Shagari, who was then of the ruling National Party of Nigeria(NPN).
Shugaba was later confirmed to be a Nigerian by a High Court after his aged mother succeeded in identifying his voice in a testimony which shaped the nation’s legal history.
His foray into politics almost overshadowed his police cum secret service career.
He was a leading presidential aspirant under the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC) in 1992 before the the Military regime of ex-President Ibrahim Babangida aborted the primaries.
He however succeeded in being the vice-presidential candidate of Olu Falae in the APP/AD alliance in 1999.
The alliance was defeated at the poll in 1999 by the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) which fielded Olusegun Obasanjo/Atiku Abubakar for the presidential race.
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