Tag Archives: Al-Mustapha

BREAKING: Lagos secures order to re-open Kudirat’s murder case against Al-Mustapha

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Lagos State government yesterday secured an order of the Supreme Court to re-open the murder case of the late Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, against Major Hamza Al-Mustapha (rtd), former Chief Security Officer (CSO) to the late Military Head of State, Sani Abacha.Kudirat was the wife of the late businessman and politician, Chief MKO Abiola, the presumed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election that was annulled by former President Ibrahim Babangida.

Supreme Court in its brief ruling on the application filed by Lagos State for permission to re-open the case out of time granted the request for the state to challenge the Court of Appeal’s decision of July 12, 2013, which discharged and acquitted Al-Mustapha from the murder case.

Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen, in the ruling of a panel of seven justices, ordered Lagos State to file its notice of appeal within 30 days.The decision of Justice Onnoghen on the Lagos application argued by Osunsanya Oluwayemisi, a senior state counsel in the Lagos Ministry of Justice followed the consent of Al-Mustapha’s counsel, Mr. Joseph Daudu (SAN), not to oppose the application.

The acting CJN stated that by the decision of the apex court, the time for Lagos to appeal against the findings of the court of appeal on the celebrated murder case has been extended from July 12, 2013 when the appeal court judgment was delivered till yesterday.

By granting the permission, the coast is now clear for Lagos State to challenge the ‘not guilty’ verdict granted in favour of the ex-military officer by the court of appeal almost in 2013.

In the new move to re-open the case, Lagos State government had sought to file a notice of appeal out of the time at the Supreme Court, asking for the permission of the court to allow it to challenge the appeal court findings of Justices Amina Adamu Augie, Rita Nosakhare Pemu and Fatimo Omoro Akinbami on ground of miscarriage of justice in the matter.

The state had in the application, prayed the apex court to allow it to exercise its constitutional right to test the validity and correctness of the decision of the appeal court.

It claimed that it wanted to raise its ground of appeal on arguable legal and factual issues, especially the question of whether there was any direct or circumstantial evidence establishing the guilt passed on Al-Mustapha in the murder case.

It also justified its lateness in filing the appeal on the ground that it set up two legal teams to review the circumstances of the case and the verdict of the court of appeal.

It added that it took a long time for the two legal teams to present their findings and recommend that an appeal case can be filed and sustained.Lagos State Government said that it will ask the Supreme Court to set aside the judgment of the court of appeal, which on July 12, 2013 discharged and acquitted Major Al-Mustapha in the murder case of late Alhaja Kudirat Abiola.

In place of the Appeal Court decision, Lagos State government said it would plead with the apex court to uphold and restore the death by hanging sentence placed on Al-Mustapha.

In the judgment of the high court delivered on January 30, 2012 by Justice Moji Dada, the accused persons were found culpable as charged and sentenced them to death by hanging.

However at the Court of Appeal approached by Al-Mustapha on April 27, 2012, for the review of the trial and the conviction, the three-member appellate court justices in a unanimous judgment of July 12, 2013 voided the decision of the high court, set it aside and discharged and acquitted the accused.

Supreme Court Gives Nod To Appeal Of Al-Mustapha’s Release

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The Supreme Court in Nigeria has given the Lagos State Government a go ahead to file an appeal against the judgement of the Appeal Court which released Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, the former Chief Security Officer (CSO) to the late Head of State, General Sani Abacha.

In a ruling delivered by the Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onoghene, the apex court granted the request of the Lagos State Government following a motion argued on its behalf by Miss Oluwayemisi Osusanya, a Senior State Counsel in the Lagos State Ministry of Justice.

Justice Onoghene says the time within which to appeal against the verdict of July 12, 2013, had been extended for Lagos State government till Thursday.

He, however, conceded to the motion and ordered the Lagos State government to file a notice of appeal within the next 30 days.

Earlier, Counsel to Major Al-Mustapha, Mr Joseph Daudu, withdrew his counter affidavit objecting to the request by the Lagos government to appeal the matter.

He had objected on the grounds that the time within which to do so had elapsed.

Major Al-Mustapha was released by the court on July 12, 2013, after many years of standing trial for the alleged murder of Kudirat Abiola in 1996.

Abacha, Abiola Were Killed By Same ‘Forces’- Al-Mustapha

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Former chief security officer (CSO) to the late head of state, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, yesterday defended his late boss, General Sani Abacha, insisting that the late head of state did not loot the nation’s treasury as being reported.

He also described President Muhammadu Buhari as an honest and dedicated person who deeply loved the country.

Speaking with the media in Lagos yesterday, Al-Mustapha said that most of the funds recovered in different parts of the world were kept there by the Abacha government in anticipation of sanctions likely to be imposed on the country by the international community.

Al-Mustapha insisted that a stakeholder meeting took place in Abuja involving traditional rulers, key politicians and senior members of the Abacha cabinet where it was agreed to keep some money abroad so that the country will stay afloat when the expected sanctions eventually came.

“General Sani Abacha served this country for four years and seven months and during that period, he stepped on many toes. Aside the two or three coup plots that were made known to the public, there were several others that were not made known.

“These collaborators with some members of the international community were bent on removing him from office. General Abacha is dead today but those powerful forces are yet to forgive him. While alive, General Abacha’s enemies teamed up with the international community and they threatened to impose sanctions on the country.

“There was a meeting in Abuja where it was agreed that money should be kept outside the shores of the country so that when sanction came, that money will keep Nigeria afloat. Tom Ikimi was the foreign affairs secretary then.

“At that time oil was selling for seven or eight dollars. We took no loan to run the economy and that was when we also created the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF). I was embarrassed while in prison and I heard about what people called ‘Abacha Loot’. I wrote from prison to the late Abacha family to publish and make public whether those monies were in his name, date of lodgements before he became head of state or after he became head of state.

“I was at the meeting where the decision was taken but because all of us could not leave the Villa, I had to go back before the meeting ended. Like I said, Abacha stepped on toes and those people have still not forgiven him even in death.

“You should also remember that Abacha was not traveling out of the country. At the beginning of his administration he did go to Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and perhaps one or two other countries and that was in 1994. Most of his travels were within Africa, so how was he able to stash such money outside the shores of the country?

“While as his CSO, the only bank account I had was with the Bank of the North and that was where my salary was paid. I went to the Army to serve my country and not to make money as I came from a well-to-do family,” he said.

Al-Mustapha pleaded with Nigerians to give him time to conclude all the court cases involving him and the federal government, just as he promised to reveal what actually took place on the day the late General Abacha died.

Credit: Leadership