Court strikes out trial of Al-Mustapha over Kudirat Abiola murder

The Supreme Court has dismissed the trial of Major Hamza Al-Mustapha (retd), the former Chief Security Officer to late military Head of State, General Sani Abacha, over the murder of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola.

Al-Mustapha had been standing trial in connection with the killing of Mrs Abiola, a prominent pro-democracy activist during the military era.

Kudirat Abiola was the wife of the late businessman and politician, Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, who was widely regarded as the winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election annulled by the regime of former President Ibrahim Babangida.

Mrs Abiola was assassinated in Lagos during the nationwide unrest that followed the annulment of the election.

Her killing occurred amid her continued campaign and resistance against the military government in a bid to have the June 12 mandate restored.

The trial of Al-Mustapha on the murder charges brought against him by the Lagos State government was, however, put to rest on Thursday by a 5-man panel of Justices of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Uwani Aba-Aji.

At the proceedings where the Lagos State was slated to re-open the trial, no legal representation was made while no process was filed since 2014 when order to re-open the case was granted in favour of the state government.

When the matter was called, Paul Daudu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria stood for Al-Mustapha and informed the Justices that Lagos has not taken any step to implement the order granted it in 2014 to re-open the trial.

He said that not even a notice of appeal was filed by Lagos as the appellant to demonstrate its seriousness to prosecute the trial.

The senior lawyer informed the Apex Court that in 2014 when order to re-open the trial was granted, Lagos was issued a 30 day ultimatum to file its notice of appeal.

Daudu explained that more than nine years after, nothing was done to comply with the order.

He therefore urged the Court to hold that the appellant has abandoned the case and should be dismissed in its entirety.

Justice Uwani Aba-Aji, who presided over the matter sought to know if Lagos was served with hearing notice, the question that was answered in the affirmative by the Registrar of the Court.

In a brief ruling, the Supreme Court in a unanimous decision agreed that Lagos has lost interest in the matter and consequently abandoned it.

Justice Aba-Aji held that nine years was long enough for the appellant to have filed notice of appeal and the appeal in the matter.

Besides, the Court expressed disgust that no legal representation was made by the state government while no information was made available to the Court and the respondent.

Consequently, the matter marked SC/CR/45/2014 was dismissed.

Another matter by the Lagos governor marked SC/CR/6/2014 was also dismissed on the same ground.

The Supreme Court had in 2014 in a brief ruling on the application by Lagos State for permission to re-open the case out of time, granted the request for the Lagos to challenge the Court of Appeal decision of July 12, 2013 that discharged and acquitted Al-Mustapha from the murder case.

The then Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Justice Walter Samuel Nkanu 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 lawyer, Mr. Joseph Dauda SAN, not to oppose the application.

The acting CJN had said 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 Court of Appeal judgment was delivered till January 7, 2014.

By the granted permission in 2014, the coast became cleared for the Lagos to challenge the no guilty verdict granted in favour of the military officer by the Court of Appeal in 2013

In the then move to re-open the case, the 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 mis-carriage 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 wants to raise its ground of appeal on arguable legal and factual issues especially the question of whether there is any direct or circumstantial evidence establishing the guilt passed on Al-Mustapha in the murder case.

It 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.

The government said that it took a long time for the two legal teams to present their findings and recommended that an appeal case can be filed and sustained.

The 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 Hamza Al-Mustapha, in the murder case of late Alhaja Kudirat Abiola.

In place of the Appeal Court decision, the state government said that it will plead with the apex court to uphold and restore the death sentence by hanging placed on the former Chief Security Officer (CSO) to the former dictator and late Head of State, General Sani Abacha by a Lagos High Court on January 30, 2012.

Al-Mustapha, Mohammed Abacha and one Lateef Shofolahan were arraigned before a Lagos high court on two-count criminal charge of conspiracy to commit murder and the murder of the late Alhaja Kudirat Abiola on June 4, 1996 in Lagos State.

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 3-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 on the ground that the evidence against them was not strong enough to warrant the death sentence.

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