S/Court dismisses trial of Major Hamza Al-Mustapha in Kudirat Abiola’s murder

By Vivian Okejeme, Abuja

The Supreme Court, Thursday, dismissed the trial of Major Hamza Al-Mustapha (rtd), the former Chief Security Officer (CSO) to the late Military Head of State, General Sani Abacha in the murder of late politician, Alhaja Kudirat Abiola.
Kudirat Abiola was the wife of the late businessman cum politician, Chief MKO Abiola, the presumed winner of the June 12, 1993 Presidential Election that was annulled by former President Ibrahim Babangida.
Mrs Kudirat Abiola was however murdered in Lagos in the nationwide crisis that followed the annulment and in the course of her persistent struggle to get the annulment reversed by the military.
The trial of Al-Mustapha in the murder charge brought against him by the Lagos State government was however, put to rest on Thursday by a 5-man panel of Justices of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Uwani Aba-Aji.
At the proceedings where the Lagos State was slated to re-open the trial, no legal representation was made while no process was filed since 2014 when and order to re-open the case was granted in its favour.
When the matter was called, Paul Daudu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria stood for Al-Mustapha and informed the Justices that Lagos has not taken any step to implement the order granted it in 2014 to re-open the trial.
He said that not even a notice of appeal was filed by Lagos as the appellant to demonstrate its seriousness to prosecute the trial.
The senior lawyer informed the Apex Court that in 2014 when the order to re-open the trial was granted, Lagos was issued a 30 day ultimatum to file its notice of appeal.
Daudu explained that more than nine years after, nothing was done to comply with the order.
He therefore urged the Court to hold that the appellant has abandoned the case and should be dismissed in its entirety.
Justice Uwani Aba-Aji who presided over the matter sought to know if Lagos was served with hearing notice, the question that was answered in the affirmative by the Registrar of the Court.
In a brief ruling, the Supreme Court in a unanimous decision agreed that Lagos has lost interest in the matter and consequently abandoned it.
Justice Aba-Aji held that nine years was long enough for the appellant to have filed notice of appeal and the brief of appeal in the matter.
Besides, the Court expressed disgust that no legal representation was made by the state government while no information was made available to the Court and the respondent despite being served with hearing notice since 2020.
Consequently, the matter marked SC/CR/45/2014 was dismissed.
Another matter by the Lagos governor marked SC/CR/6/2014 on the same trial was also dismissed on the same ground.
The Supreme Court had in 2014 in a ruling on the application by Lagos State for permission to re-open the case out of time, granted the request for the Lagos to challenge the Court of Appeal decision of July 12, 2013 that discharged and acquitted Al-Mustapha from the murder case.
The then Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Justice Walter Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen in the ruling of a panel of seven Justices ordered Lagos State to file its notice of appeal within 30 days.
The decision of Justice Onnoghen on the Lagos application argued by Osunsanya Oluwayemisi, a Senior State Counsel in the Lagos Ministry of Justice followed the consent of Al-Mustapha’s lawyer, Mr. Joseph Daudu SAN, not to oppose the application.