to a new National Constitutional Conference. He was an outspoken delegate and in early 1994 organized a political conference at the Nigerian Union of Journalist office in Lagos that earned the attention of the military leadership who detained him for four days. Arrest and death In March 1995, General Yar'Adua alongside Olusegun Obasanjo, Lawan Gwadabe and others were arrested on allegations of plotting a coup to overthrow the General Sani Abacha regime. He was sentenced to death by a military tribunal in 1995, after calling on the Nigerian military government of General Sani Abacha and his Provisional Ruling Council to re-establish civilian rule. The sentence was commuted to life in prison but he died in captivity on 8 December 1997. Personal life In 1965, Shehu Yar'adua married Hajia Binta and they have five children, including Murtala Yar'Adua, former Nigerian Minister of State for Defence. Wealth After retiring from the military, Yar'Adua established a holding company called Hamada Holdings with several business interests in shipping, banking, publishing allowing him to amass a vast private fortune. References Further reading Shehu Musa Yar'Adua: A Life of Service (Lynne Rienner Pub., 2004). Nigeria at Fifty: Contributions to Peace, Democracy & Development (Edited by Attahiru M. Jega & Jacqueline W. Farris, 2010). Neither North nor South, East nor West: One Nigeria (Jacqueline W. Farris illustrated by Mustapha Bulama, 2011). External links Shehu Musa Yar'Adua Foundation 1943 births 1997 deaths Nigerian generals Nigerian Army officers Participants in the 1975 Nigerian military coup 20th-century Nigerian businesspeople Vice presidents of Nigeria Nigerian Fula people 20th-century Nigerian politicians Shehu Musa Graduates of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst Military personnel of the Nigerian Civil War Heads of government who were later imprisoned