‘How FG Frustrated my Mother’s murder case to favour Abacha’s son’, Jamiu Abiola speaks on Inside Sources

Jamiu Abiola says the Federal Government’s effort at the time to recover funds linked to the Abacha family influenced how the murder case of his mother, Kudirat Abiola, was pursued and managed. Speaking during an interview on Inside Sources with Laolu Akande on Channels Television on Friday, Jamiu Abiola — son of the late pro-democracy […]

Jamiu Abiola says the Federal Government’s effort at the time to recover funds linked to the Abacha family influenced how the murder case of his mother, Kudirat Abiola, was pursued and managed.

Speaking during an interview on Inside Sources with Laolu Akande on Channels Television on Friday, Jamiu Abiola — son of the late pro-democracy icon, Kudirat Abiola and Senior Special Assistant to the President on Linguistics & Foreign Affairs, reflected on the legal and political developments that followed her killing and the broader context surrounding the prosecution efforts.

He described his emotional reaction in the early period after his mother’s death and how his personal faith shaped his response over time.

“Initially, I was very upset. But, of course, I’m a Muslim. I always believe that this world is a small journey. That makes it easy for me to actually deal with. This is not a normal tragedy. It’s a very special tragedy. From the time she was killed, Abacha arrested family members, arrested democracy activists so that they can create misinformation. At the end of the day, they released those people.”

Abiola alleged that beyond the criminal investigation, there were also financial and political considerations tied to the recovery of funds associated with the late military ruler, Sani Abacha, and his family.

According to him, government interest in asset recovery shaped how prosecutors handled aspects of the case involving Mohammed Abacha.

“Later, I was informed by a lot of people that would know that the federal government at that time was more interested in getting the monies that had been stolen from the Abachas back to the country. And, they knew that they had all the evidence against Muhammed Abacha. They wanted to use that case against him to get him to cooperate. Once the boy signalled that he was ready to cooperate, they now moved him to Kuje prison.”

He also addressed claims that the prosecution at the time was politically or regionally motivated, rejecting suggestions that it was driven by ethnic bias. Abiola argued that such narratives ignored key facts and the personal history of his mother.

“From the beginning [following the commencement of the case on Kudirat Abiola’s murder], there was some people who said they want to just arrest Muhammed Abacha because he is from the North and because a southerner is the president. The fact that Muhammed Abacha gave his driver money to run out of the country so that he can run away from the police and the man kept coming back and finally got arrested. Some people from other part of the country were saying it’s a witch hunt.”

He stressed that his mother’s cross-regional background contradicted attempts to frame the case in ethnic terms.

“The fact they killed a woman – my mother grew up in Zaria. A lot of people believe she was even more Northern than Yoruba. She even taught me Hausa to the point that I even speak Hausa better than I speak Yoruba when I was a kid. But that didn’t matter. They just assume that she was killed, she is a Yoruba woman and that the person that killed her even if you show them the recording, they will still say no, they have to release him. This is part of the things I am not comfortable with,” Abiola said.

His remarks come after the Supreme Court of Nigeria recently dismissed an appeal seeking to reopen proceedings related to the case involving Major Hamza Al-Mustapha (rtd), a former Chief Security Officer to Sani Abacha, who had been a central suspect in investigations surrounding Kudirat Abiola’s killing in Lagos in 1996.

Jamiu Abiola said the intersections of justice, politics, and financial recovery efforts during that era continue to shape public understanding of the case, adding that historical clarity remains important for national reconciliation and institutional trust.