“We Intend To Get The North Back On Track, We Know We Would Hurt People” – Al-Mustapha Says
The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed the murder case filed by the Lagos State Government against Major Hamza Al-Mustapha (retd), the former Chief Security Officer to the late Head of State Sani Abacha, over the assassination of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola.
Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, wife of the late businessman and politician MKO Abiola—the presumed winner of the annulled June 12, 1993 presidential election—was killed in Lagos on June 4, 1996, amid political unrest and her campaign to restore her husband’s mandate.
In a unanimous decision delivered by a five-member panel led by Justice Uwani Aba-Aji, the Supreme Court held that Lagos State had effectively abandoned its appeal to reopen Al-Mustapha’s trial.
Al-Mustapha’s lawyer, Paul Daudu (SAN), informed the court that although the Supreme Court had granted Lagos State permission in 2014 to reopen the case, the state had neither filed any notice of appeal nor taken steps to prosecute the matter. He noted that Lagos had been given 30 days in 2014 to act, but over nine years later, had failed to do so, urging the court to dismiss the case for lack of diligent prosecution.
Justice Aba-Aji confirmed that Lagos State had been duly served with hearing notices but had no legal representation or filed processes before the court. The Supreme Court ruled that the state’s inaction demonstrated a clear loss of interest in the case.
The court further criticized Lagos State’s failure to appear or provide explanations, describing it as an abuse of court process. Consequently, appeal SC/CR/45/2014 was dismissed, and another related appeal, SC/CR/6/2014, was struck out on the same grounds.
The 2014 permission had allowed Lagos State to challenge the July 12, 2013 Court of Appeal judgment, which acquitted Al-Mustapha of Kudirat Abiola’s murder. The Court of Appeal had overturned the January 30, 2012 Lagos High Court ruling, which sentenced Al-Mustapha, Mohammed Abacha, and Lateef Shofolahan to death by hanging for conspiracy and murder.
Lagos State had sought to reinstate the death sentence, arguing that sufficient direct and circumstantial evidence linked Al-Mustapha to the crime. Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling, however, effectively ends all attempts by the Lagos State Government to revive the case.