Twists, turns of Al-Mustapha judgment
The siren signaling the arrival of the former Chief Security Officer to late General Sani Abacha, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha rent the premises of the Igbosere Lagos High Court and its environs on Monday. A detachment of police officers and civil defense corps stood guard at the court’s premises as spectators throng the gates of the […]
The siren signaling the arrival of the former Chief Security Officer to late General Sani Abacha, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha rent the premises of the Igbosere Lagos High Court and its environs on Monday. A detachment of police officers and civil defense corps stood guard at the court’s premises as spectators throng the gates of the court to witness the denouement of the longest criminal case in Nigeria’s history. Al-Mustapha is standing trial with Alhaji Lateef Sofolahan, a former aide of Chief M.K.O Abiola, the acclaimed winner of the June 12 presidential election over the death of Chief Abiola’s wife, Alhaja Kudirat Abiola.
At 10:15am, the day’s proceeding commenced with the chronicling of the case and analysis of the evidence produced before the court by the prosecution and defence by the trial judge, Justice Mojisola Dada. In the verdict that lasted for almost nine hours, the Judge held that gunmen sent by Major Al-Mustapha killed Kudirat on the street of Lagos on June 4, 1996, saying the evidence produced before the court against the defence “is too strong.”
According to her, there is overwhelming evidence against Sofolahan which proved that he provided surveillance assistance to the killer squad as they trailed the outspoken wife of Abiola until she was murdered. The judge held that Sofolahan connived and gave vital information concerning the itinerary of late Kudirat Abiola to the hit man, Sergeant Barnabas Jabila, popularly known as Sergeant Rogers, leading to the death of Kudirat in June, 1996. She observed that there was evidence that Sergeant Rogers was briefed to give two contradictory evidences against Al-Mustapha.
She said that Sergeant Rogers, in his testimony said Major Al-Mustapha instructed him to eliminate Mrs. Abiola, but Rogers later contradicted himself by saying that he was not in Lagos when the murder was carried out. According to her, the evidences proved that it was Sofolahan who gave the details of the late Mrs. Abiola to Sergeant Rogers on the day of the murder, while he (Sofolahan) was working in the house of Mrs. Abiola.
The judge held that there are strong evidences that linked both Sofolahan and Al-Mustapha together, which showed that they conspired to assassinate Mrs. Abiola. She punctured Al Mustapha’s claim that he was being persecuted by unnamed authority over his possession of some video documentary evidence, saying the development is a subtle way by him to wriggle out of the case. She also faulted Mustapha’s claims that some witnesses were induced to deliberately implicate him, stressing that he failed to convince the court adequately.
She criticised the former CSO for defending his boss, late Sani Abacha at the expense of lives of Nigerians. She said: “He felt obliged to silence every voice against the voice of his boss. He magnified himself in such a way that nobody could touch him. The tape he sent to Obasanjo was illegally obtained by him. It was not true that he was persecuted based on the content of video document in his possession. He has been in detention of the Special Investigation Panel before Obasanjo came.”
On Lateef Sofolahan, the judge described him as “a willing tool, Judas Iscariot and a gold digger who sold his master.” She said: “The Abiola family never knew they were harbouring a viper. He deliberately sacrificed Alhaja Kudirat to meet his personal greed. Blood-thirsty traitor.” The judge therefore found both men guilty of three-count charge of conspiracy and murder after 13 years of trial and ordered that they should die. “The court is of the view that the prosecution evidence is manifestly reliable as having proved ingredients of conspiracy and murder against the accused for the murder of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola on June 4, 1996,” she said. “The defendants are hereby sentenced to mandatory sentence according to Section 319 of Criminal Code of Laws of Lagos. They are to die by hanging until pronounced death.”
It would be recalled that Al Mustapha, Sofolahan and CSP Rabo Lawal had filed a no case submission to the Lagos High Court in continuation of their trial over the murder of Kudirat. On August 1st, 2011, the court discharged and acquitted Rabo Lawal saying there was no prima facie case against him. The court ordered Al-Mustapha and Sofolahan to proceed on trial. The marathon trial witnessed some startling revelation by Al-Mustapha on the culpability of some Yoruba leaders on the death of Abiola. He alleged that Bola Ige, a former Minister of Justice who himself was assassinated, as well as Abraham Adesanya, also deceased, were part of a group of Yoruba leaders who were inadvertently complicit in Chief Abiola’s murder. He claimed that shortly after Chief Abiola’s mystifying death on July 7, 1998, the General Abubakar Abdulsalami regime had withdrawn some $200 million and £74 million from the Central Bank of Nigeria to buy the silence of some Yoruba figures.
The court had on July 14 dismissed applications of no case submission by Mustapha and Lateef Sofolahan on the premise that they have a case to answer in the death of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola.Trial judge ordered that the two accused open defense for their trial on August 1. She freed Inspector Rabo Lawal, who was co-accused in the matter, on the ground that there was no prima case linking him up with the murder.
Earlier at the resumption of cross examination of Al-Mustapha he confirmed to the court that General Abacha died on June 8, 1998, and that he was not around when Abacha died but he saw him around 2am on that fateful day in company of some ministers and ambassadors. He however said he was around when MKO Abiola died. He said, “I was technically present when MKO Abiola died but I did not give him the tea that killed him. By my position in the Presidency at the time, I was present there with him by the video recordings but physically I was not there.” He told the court that his boss was murdered, adding that he became enemy to some highly placed individuals in the country because they wanted Abacha out as Head of State and Commander in Chief. He also told the court that he was penciled down for elimination but the former Inspector General, Mike Okiro saved his life. He said a statement he purportedly made to the Special Investigative Panel, SIP, in 1999 was done under duress and that he was tortured to implicate himself. He said that he met with Sofolahan for the first time in March 1998 in Lagos when some youths organized a one-million-man match in support of the administration of the late Abacha and later at the SIP in Abuja.
Al-Mustapha denied knowing the content in his rejected statement, marked ‘ID2’ made on the13th of October, 1999 at the Special Investigation Panel (SIP). “I made it under duress, physical and serious torture,” he said. “This is an SIP statement, not my own. I only made it to save my family, life and that of my younger brother. I made 28 statements including this one under severe torture. I had to give up and succumb to the dictation of the SIP.”
Al-Mustapha’s lawyer, Olalekan Ojo, however opposed prosecution’s counsel position saying where a witness is to be contradicted pursuance to Section 209 of the Evidence Act through cross-examination, the counsel cross-examining must state clearly the purpose for which the statement is sought to be tendered. “The counsel cross-examining must state that the previous statement is being tendered for the purpose of shaking the credibility of the witness. Where this is not done, the statement will be inadmissible,” he said.
Furthermore, Ojo declared that the statement cannot be tendered during cross-examination of the defendant, owing to the fact that he has been consistently saying that the document is a product of torture and that he was forced against his wish to write it.
According to him, the court’s ruling on the document is not for it to be tendered in evidence. He said the correct position of the law is that any statement of an accused person sought to be used against him for any purpose whatsoever can be objected to on the ground that it was not made voluntarily. “The whole purport of the contention is that it is not permissible for the prosecution to seek to tender a statement which voluntariness has been challenged by the accused person under examination,” he added. Ojo posited that the witness will suffer great prejudice that can occasion great miscarriage of justice if the statement sought to be tendered is admitted as an exhibit.
Prosecution’s counsel, Lawal Pedro(SAN) drew the attention of the court to Section 37 of the Evidence Act which stated that any statement made by an accused person is admissible except it is confessional. He also contends that the witness had given evidence in respect of the statement during his evidence-in-chief where he said it is his “visa” to go to Lagos. This, according to him makes it mandatory for the prosecution to tender the statement. He noted in the statement thus: “The arms and ammunition, that is Uzi gun SMG with 9MM rounds with silencer did not come from me. Though, Bernabas Jabila had earlier on said that Mohammed Abacha was there when I gave him my personal ammunition. It could be true that I showed him my arms for cleaning which used to be my pattern of cleaning my arms whenever we come back from range exercise but certainly I did not give him my personal arms to kill Alhaja Kudirat Abiola. ”
Al-Mustapha denied giving evidence in favour of the 2nd defendant, Lateef Sofolahan. “I didn’t give evidence in favour of the 2nd defendant. That will amount to buying me over. I was a witness to him in the trial within trial. I chose to assist the court as a witness on oath in support of the fact,” he said.
Al-Mustapha read out in court an incriminating written confession he had given to the Special Investigation Panel (SIP) in Abuja on October 13, 1999; afterwards, the statement was admitted in evidence in the case. In that statement, Al-Mustapha admitted responsibility for supplying the guns used in the murder of Kudirat. The presiding judge, Mojisola Dada, then ruled that the prosecution, which was led by Lawal Pedro, the Attorney-General of Lagos State, could cross-examine Al-Mustapha on the statement.
Sofolahan had on August 17, 2011 told the Lagos High court that he was a protocol officer in the MKO Abiola’s campaign organisation tagged ‘Hope 93’. He denied working for the late Kudirat in any capacity. He said he knew Alhaja Kudirat at the Hope ’93 campaign organisation office along with other wives of late M.K.O Abiola.
Sofolahan also informed Justice Dada that he was not aware that the late Kudirat Abiola was killed by gunshot. “I am aware that Alhaja Kudirat Abiola died but I did not attend the burial, but I watched it on the television. I did not attend because I learnt area boys have invaded the campaign office of Hope ‘93 at Opebi,” he stated. He further informed the court that he was one of the youth leaders that led Lagos delegates to the 2-million-man-march rally in Abuja seeking for the election of Gen. Sani Abacha as a civilian president.
Sofolahan who initially denied that he knew that M.K.O Abiola was in detention as at the time he attended the 2-million-man-march rally at the Eagle Square, Abuja later turned around to say that Abiola was in detention. He told the court that his confessional statement dated October 8, 1998, was made under duress adding that he was merely ordered by the Special Investigation Panel (SIP) to copy verbatim an already prepared statement.
Sofolahan told the court that because of the torture he was subjected to he had no choice but to comply with the directive of the SIP adding that he was ordered to implicate himself in the statement. He told the court that the pain inflicted on him was so severe that if he was instructed to write that he personally shot Alhaja Kudirat Abiola or that he planned a coup he would have done so. He told the court that he has been in detention since 1999 till date. He admitted he was a protocol officer in the campaign organisation of late M.K.O Abiola and that he was in charge of providing accommodation for delegates and party officers at the Gate Way Hotel, Ogun State under the direction of Dr. Jonathan Zwingina who was the Director general of Abiola’s political organisation. He said his schedule as protocol officer included giving out campaign materials such as posters, caps, T-shirts to people.
Sofolahan told the court that in 1993 after the annulment of the June 12 election, everybody in the campaign organisation was paid off and that he went back to his previous business as a beer distributor. He told the court that his office was located at No 12, Itere Road, Abeokuta Bus Stop, in Mushin area of Lagos and that he was a major distributor to Nigerian Brewery, Guinness Plc and Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited respectively. He added that in 1998 he joined the campaign team of former President Olusegun Obasanjo and that he resided in Obasanjo’s Ota farm house and after the election he moved to the Presidential Villa Abuja along with the former president.
He said: “I was arrested on 8, October, 1999. I was taken to the Police Headquarters. On getting there I was handcuffed backwards. I was first accused of using Obasanjo’s name to collect money in the CBN.” Sofolahan alleged that he denied that accusation but he had to sign that he knew about Kudirat’s murder when the torture was too much. He said he was made to stay in a cell whose floor was broken. He said he was chained in both hands and legs, was beaten and even at a point hanged. Sofolahan said he was asked to copy the said confessional statement and that he had to do it to get respite.
Sofolahan denied the allegation that he gave information to those who murdered Kudirat, adding that he never met Sergeant Rogers and Mohammed Rabo Lawal until he got to the SIP in 1999. Sofolahan alleged that he met Mohammed Abdul alias Katako for the first time in the court. Both the prosecution and the defence gave their closing arguments to the court on November 12, after which Justice Dada fixed judgment for January 30, 2012. She later ruled that Al-Mustapha and Sofolahan are guilty of murder and sentenced the duo to death.
Al-Mustapha’s family had appealed the judgment of the Lagos High Court. Weekly Trust spoke with wife of Major Al-Mustapha, Hafsat, over the phone. She said: “The then government witnesses confessed to giving false evidence against my husband and they were one way or the other acquitted and released but my husband was still kept behind bars. It is absurd that you keep a man for fourteen years awaiting trial and at the end of the day you sentence him to death by hanging. Convicting him at all cost over nothing. “I’m not a lawyer but before you convict someone it must be proved beyond reasonable doubt that he committed the crime. This was not a trial because there was no case against him in the first place. There is a conspiracy to keep my husband locked up and behind bars for unknown reasons. We know the game as someone is hell bent on making sure Al-Mustapha is killed but God is on our side and the truth shall surely prevail.”
Lawyer, Professor Itse Sagay (SAN), and former president of Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) spoke on the sentence passed on Al-Mustapha and Sofolahan. He said: “Human life is sacrosanct and those who take it with impunity should be ready to face the consequences of their actions. What I find disturbing about fellow compatriots is the fact that many do not place any value on human lives especially those of others. They will protect themselves at all cost. They do not want to be hurt or killed; yet when it comes to another person’s they treat it as cheap. They will kill recklessly and walk away without flinching. No man can create human life, therefore it should not be taken away in that manner.” When Weekly Trust contacted Colonel Jibrin Bala Yakubu, one of the initial accused in the murder case with Al-Mustapha who was later freed, he said of the judgment: “It is shocking. I least expected that will be the sentence, if at all he is to be sentenced.”
For Barrister Aliyu Umar, a Kaduna-based lawyer, the death sentence passed on Major Hamza Al-Mustapha can be quashed by either the Appeal or Supreme Court depending on how Al-Mustapha’s counsels handle the case. “Yes, it is possible for the Appeal or Supreme Court to pass a judgment that would be different from the one passed by the Lagos State High Court. Although, I have not read the judgment but the whole issue would depend on how the Judge at the Lagos State High Court treated the evidences presented before her court. “In my own opinion, that judgment and the whole allegation leveled against Al-Mustapha has political colouration. You should know that the person who was said to have been murdered is from South West. Not only that, she is the wife of a person that is seen as a pillar of the South West’s politics. Therefore, you expect such type of judgment,” Barrister Umar said.
Umar also said the most disheartening aspect of the whole episode is the time that the Judge took before judgment was finally passed. “This shows that Nigeria’s judiciary system needs some reforms. It is not right for somebody to be detained for over 12 years without judgment and this is the first court. This shows that, by implication, it is only God who knows when the Appeal Court would deliver its own judgment. It is time for Lagos State governor to come into this case and use the powers given to him by the constitution to order the release of Al-Mustapha. Though, as I said earlier, I didn’t read the judgment but I was told that the Judge has made some utterances, which made some people to believe that the judgment was based on some sentiments. Whatever it is, I am sure the Judges at the Appeal Court would fish out all those issues and fairly treat the case because Appeal Courts are federal court as such it is difficult for sentiments to influence their verdicts on sensitive case like that of Al-Mustapha,” Barrister Umar said.
Counsel to Al-Mustapha, Olalekan Ojo, said their appeal “has very good chances of success.” Is this the end of the road for Al-Mustapha or will he win the appeal? Only time will tell.