The Supreme Court has dismissed the trial of Major Hamza Al-Mustapha (rtd), the former Chief Security Officer to the late Military Head of State, General Sani Abacha, in the murder of late politician Kudirat Abiola.
Kudirat was the wife of the late businessman and politician MKO Abiola, the presumed winner of the June 12, 1993 Presidential Election, which was annulled by former President Ibrahim Babangida.
She was murdered in Lagos amid the nationwide crisis that followed the annulment, in the course of her persistent struggle to have the annulment reversed by the military.
The trial of Al-Mustapha on murder charges brought by the Lagos State Government was put to rest on Thursday by a five-man panel of Supreme Court Justices led by Justice Uwani Aba-Aji.
At the proceedings, where Lagos State was scheduled to re-open the trial, no legal representation appeared, and no processes had been filed since 2014, when an order to re-open the case was granted in favor of the state government.
When the matter was called, Paul Daudu, SAN, representing Al-Mustapha, informed the Justices that Lagos had taken no steps to implement the 2014 order. He noted that not even a notice of appeal had been filed to demonstrate the state’s intent to prosecute the trial.
Daudu explained that in 2014, Lagos was issued a 30-day ultimatum to file its notice of appeal. More than nine years later, nothing had been done to comply, and he urged the Court to hold that the appellant had abandoned the case and should have it dismissed in its entirety.
Justice Aba-Aji, presiding over the matter, asked if Lagos had been served with the hearing notice, which was confirmed by the Court Registrar.
In a brief ruling, the Supreme Court, unanimously, agreed that Lagos had lost interest in the matter and effectively abandoned it. Justice Aba-Aji held that nine years was more than sufficient time for the appellant to file a notice of appeal and pursue the case.
The Court expressed concern that no legal representation had appeared on behalf of the state and that no information had been provided to the Court or 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 granted Lagos State permission to re-open the case out of time, allowing it to challenge the Court of Appeal’s July 12, 2013 decision, which had discharged and acquitted Al-Mustapha.
The order, delivered by then Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Justice Walter Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen, required Lagos to file a notice of appeal within 30 days.
The 2014 decision followed the consent of Al-Mustapha’s lawyer, Joseph Dauda, SAN, not to oppose the application. Lagos State had justified its delay by explaining that two legal teams were reviewing the circumstances of the case and the Court of Appeal verdict.
The state government had sought to raise legal and factual grounds, questioning whether there was any direct or circumstantial evidence establishing Al-Mustapha’s guilt.
It also asked the apex court to set aside the Court of Appeal’s acquittal and restore the death sentence imposed by a Lagos High Court on January 30, 2012.
Al-Mustapha, along with Mohammed Abacha and Lateef Shofolahan, was arraigned before a Lagos High Court on a two-count criminal charge of conspiracy to commit murder and the murder of Kudirat Abiola on June 4, 1996. Justice Moji Dada found the accused culpable and sentenced them to death by hanging.
However, the Court of Appeal, in a unanimous judgment delivered on July 12, 2013, voided the High Court decision, discharged and acquitted the accused, ruling that the evidence against them was insufficient to warrant a death sentence.
