Kudirat’s murder: Appeal Court frees Al-Mustapha

The verdict of the appellate court yesterday nullified the death penalty passed on Al-Mustapha in January 2012 by a Lagos High Court.Mustapha and personal assistant to the late Kudirat, Alhaji Lateef Shofolahan, were sentenced to death by hanging having been found liable for the murder on June 4, 1996.In her lead judgement, Justice Rita Pemu […]

The verdict of the appellate court yesterday nullified the death penalty passed on Al-Mustapha in January 2012 by a Lagos High Court.
Mustapha and personal assistant to the late Kudirat, Alhaji Lateef Shofolahan, were sentenced to death by hanging having been found liable for the murder on June 4, 1996.
In her lead judgement, Justice Rita Pemu said there was no straight circumstantial locus that Al-Mustapha conspired with anybody to murder the wife of the acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993 Presidential election, late Bashorun Moshood Kashimawo Abiola.
She said the evidence of prosecution witnesses in that regard were not only contradictory but also cannot be validly relied upon.
She posits that Al-Mustapha did not fire the gun and murdered Kudirat Abiola based on the material facts before her court.
She said it was not right for the lower court to have hurriedly convicted the appellants when it was clear that they have a bad case.
She held that Principal Witness 1 (Dr Ore Falomo) testified before the lower court that the bullet extracted from the forehead of the deceased was white but neither produced same for cross examination by the defense team nor appeared in court to prove his case.
She also held that the prosecution called Principal Witness 4 (Investigating Police Officer), who investigated the death of the deceased, but failed to appear before the defense team for cross-examination.
According to her, Principal Witness 2 (Sgt Rogers) and Principal Witness 3 (Mohammed Abdul) claimed in their confessional statement to the police that they were enjoined by the first appellant to kill Kudirat but later retracted them in court
She said:”PW 2 and 3 retracting their earlier statement to the police told the court that they were cajoled by the prosecution to indict the appellant, with a promise to give them monetary compensation.
“This is a contradiction in the testimonies of the witness, it raises doubt in the case of the prosecution, and it is unimaginable that the lower court did not expunge this evidence.
“For an offence like murder, I wonder why the Nigerian police did not do a proper investigation.
“Jabila who was initially arrested as a co-defendant, was later called prosecution witness, witnesses who ought to be called were never called, the bullet extracted was never tendered before the court.
“Once there is doubt in the case of the prosecution, as in the instant case, it must be resolved in favour of the accused, and this doubt is accordingly resolved in favour of the appellants.
“One thing is clear, Kudirat was shot, but the big question is who pulled the trigger?
“I find nothing in this case which sufficiently links the appellants with the commission of the offence.
“It is preposterous that in a 326 page judgment, the lower court was only concerned with securing a conviction at all cost.
“Just as God is no respecter of person, so also is this court. I hereby order that the appellants be discharged and acquitted while the conviction and sentence of the lower court, is hereby discharged.
“For someone who has been incarcerated since 1998 on a baseless indictment, it is so unfortunate” Pemu held.
Justices Amina Augie and Fatima Akinbami agreed with the lead judgment.
The new panel assumed jurisdiction over the protracted matter following the withdrawal in April of Justice Ibrahim Saulawa on personal grounds.
Solicitor-General and Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Justice, Mr. Lawal Pedro (SAN) had told the court that Al-Mustapha committed the crime because the regime he served was noted for heinous crimes which killed people perceived to be in opposition to his master
Al-Mustapha’s counsel, Mr. Joseph Daudu (SAN), said the trial judge convicted his client on conjectures and prayed the upper court to dismiss the verdict.
Counsel to Shofolahan, Mr. Olalekan Ojo, who led the defence team for both convicts at the trial court, said the verdict of the lower court was error-filled.
Mustapha and his co-accused had filed nine-grounds of appeal 24 hours after the lower court handed them the death verdict.