Supreme Court has struck out the Lagos State Government’s long-stalled bid to reopen the murder trial of retired Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, former Chief Security Officer to the late military Head of State Gen. Sani Abacha, in the killing of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, wife of the presumed June 12, 1993 presidential election winner, Chief MKO Abiola.
Major Hamza Al-Mustapha
A five-man panel led by Justice Uwani Aba-Aji dismissed the case marked SC/CR/45/2014 and another by Lagos Governor marked SC/CR/6/2014 for want of diligent prosecution, noting that despite a 2014 order granting permission to appeal the Court of Appeal’s acquittal, the state failed to file any processes or notice of appeal within the stipulated 30-day ultimatum or over the subsequent nine years.
SAN Paul Daudu, representing Al-Mustapha, informed the court that Lagos made no legal representation and took no steps to implement the order, urging dismissal for abandonment, a position the apex court upheld unanimously after confirming service of hearing notices.
Justice Aba-Aji expressed dismay at the prolonged inaction, holding that nine years exceeded reasonable time for Lagos to demonstrate seriousness, with no information provided to the court or respondent despite the case’s historical significance tied to the post-June 12 annulment crisis by then military President Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, during which Kudirat Abiola was assassinated on June 4, 1996 amid her advocacy for mandate actualisation.
The ruling brings final closure to a saga that saw Al-Mustapha, Mohammed Abacha, and Lateef Shofolahan convicted and sentenced to death by hanging on January 30, 2012 by Lagos High Court Justice Moji Dada for conspiracy and murder, only for the Court of Appeal on July 12, 2013—via Justices Amina Adamu-Augie, Rita Pemu, and Fatima Akinbami—to discharge and acquit them for insufficient evidence.
The 2014 Supreme Court extension, granted by a seven-justice panel under then Acting Chief Justice Walter Onnoghen following unopposed application by Lagos SAN Osunsanya Oluwayemisi and consent from Al-Mustapha’s counsel Joseph Dauda SAN, had aimed to rectify perceived miscarriage of justice but lapsed without action despite the state’s claims of reviewing the appellate verdict through two legal teams.
Lagos had sought to challenge the acquittal on grounds of arguable legal and factual issues, including lack of direct or circumstantial evidence against Al-Mustapha, and prayed for restoration of the death sentences, but the apex court’s latest decision ends all prospects of revisiting the high-profile case emblematic of Nigeria’s turbulent transition from military rule.
