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Major Hamza Al Mustapha was the Chief Security Officer to Nigeria’s one time military dictator, late General Sani Abacha. When Abacha died in 1998, Major Al Mustapha and others were arrested and detained in 1998 for their alleged complicity in the murder of the wife of the acclaimed winner of the June 12 1993 Presidential elections, Chief MKO Abiola, Alhaja Kudirat Abiola in 1996. Al Mustapha was sentenced to death by a Lagos High Court last but in a twist of event, he was discharged and acquitted by an Appeal Court sitting in Lagos on Friday July 12, 2013. In this piece, LATEEF BAMGBOSE recalls Hajiya Hafisat Hamza Al-Mustapha moment of joy when she rejoined with her husband in Kano last Sunday.
In an emotion laden tone, on Sunday last week, in Kano where the Kano state Governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, hosted Major Hamza Al-Mustapha after his release from Kirikiri Prison, following a Court of Appeal ruling, wife of the former Chief security Officer, CSO, to late General Sani Abacha, Hajiya Hafsat Hamza Mustapha, could only mutter Allahamudullahi Allahamudallahi, Allahamudallahi to the crowd at the Government House kano.
Narrating her ordeal, Hafsat revealed to those close to her how she joined the street hawkers in Abuja to sell recharge cards to take care of the children when all her friends and well wishers abandoned her following her husband’s arrest and detention in 1998.
“It was not easy, for 14 years, I was moving from one location to the other due to the incessant harassment from the Abuja Environmental Protection Agency, AEPA, with no one to help” she stated.
Saturday Pilot reliably gathered that at that time, nobody wanted to associate with the family, even those Al – Mustapha had helped while in Aso Rock for fear of being roped into one case or another by the then military regime.
“For a woman to stay without her husband for fourteen years, fending for her children alone especially when friends and wishers were afraid to associate with her was not an easy task but thank God our faith has made us stronger” said a family source.
It would be recalled that Major Hamza Al – Mustapha had spent 14 years in detention and one year on the death row, following his alleged complicity in the murder of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, wife of the acclaimed winner of the June 12 1993 Presidential election, late Chief MKO Abiola.
While in detention, Saturday Pilot gathered that in addition to the confiscation of his landed and other property in Abuja by the successive regime, Major Al mustapha’s family had complaints of harassment and intimidations from those suspected to be the brain behind his incarceration.
The former Chief Security Officer, CSO, to late Nigerian maximum ruler, late General Sani Abacha, Major Hamza Mustapha confirmed this much last week in Kano , while lamenting that he was returning to an empty home.
The former CSO was said to have lost his parents while in detention just as he lamented that the last time he saw his mother was in 1996.
Major Al-Mustapha’s cruel journey into detention began in Enugu on October 22nd 1998 when he was detained by the former military regime of General Abdulasalami Abubakar.
The former CSO to the late head of state General Sani Abacha was accused of planning a coup while in 82 division, Enugu where he was posted after the death of his boss. His travail started from then till when he was discharged and acquitted by an Appeal Court sitting in Lagos. Before his acquittal it’s been one accusation after another. Many judges had either excused themselves from his matter or out rightly abandoned it for unknown reasons.
Throughout his travails, people have wondered why the matter lingered in the courts and his continued detention. Some even opined that maybe the powers that be wanted him dead or were afraid of his freedom.
Some even said openly that the military are afraid that with such a young Major allegedly in control of huge hard currencies, he might become a dangerous and powerful opponent to democracy and therefore, must be dealt with at all cost.
Maybe that was why the Abubakar administration brought Al-Mustafa before the Special Investigating Panel, S.I.P., in April 1999. But he was eventually cleared of the allegations of coup plotting and carting away hard currencies after the death of General Abacha.
The case changed again with the coming of the former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who inherited the captive, and his director-general of State Security Service, SSS, Col. Kayode Are, also set up their own Special Investigation Panel, S.I.P. to deal with Major Al-Mustapha’s case.
Al Mustapha’s matter did not end with the military, his continued incarceration was hinged on the allegation that he attempted to kill the late Alex Ibru and another case of murder of the late MKO Abiola’s wife, Hajia Kudirat Abiola.
The former Emir of Gwandu, Alhaji Mustapha Haruna Jokolo, once told the Voice of America (Hausa Service) that certain Generals and politicians in the North were in connivance with Obasanjo to frustrate Major Al-Mustapha’s freedom. In fact, he even mentioned names and those he accused did not officially deny it.
Even while he was languishing in detention, the Obasanjo administration had accused Al-Mustapha of planning a coup from his prison cell. In particular, he was alleged to have planned the assassination of Obasanjo by shooting down his helicopter with a stinger missile and that Al-Mustafa was bankrolling the plot. But the case collapsed in court and he was acquitted of the alleged coup attempt against former President Obasanjo. From October 1999 to date, Major Al-Mustafa faced at least nine Judges of the Lagos High Court and a Magistrate.
In the latest reports, the trial Judge had expressed open displeasure with the delay tactics of the prosecution team to present their witnesses in court. Despite repeated extension of time granted the team in the past, the Judge lamented that they were still unable to produce their witnesses in court. And now he had given them what appears to be like the last opportunity to present witnesses in court so that the trial could make progress.
“Keeping anybody in detention for more than 12 years and with no definite date for the conclusion of the trial is the worst example of justice delayed and justice denied. While seeking justice for any alleged victim of murder, we should not commit injustice in the reverse”, he cautioned.
Major Al-Mustapha’s case was further discredited by the government’s star witness, Mr. Barnabas Mshelia (a.k.a. Sergeant Rogers), who told the court that two former Ministers of Justice – the late Bola Ige and Mr. Kanu Agabi and also the former Lagos State Attorney General, Professor Femi Osibanjo had visited him in jail to seek his cooperation to implicate Al-Mustapha. According to Rogers, they had promised him handsome rewards if he cooperated. The prosecution team was sent reeling for cover after Rogers’ revelation and the case had to be adjourned once again. In fact, even the former Obasanjo’s administration was alleged to have treated Rogers like a prince and reinstated him into the Army with the purpose of securing his maximum cooperation to implicate Al-Mustafa.
It is however strange to most Nigerians, that despite Rogers’ embarrassing revelation in court, the officials he indicted refused to deny or confirm the allegations against them. Chief Bola Ige is dead and can therefore not defend himself; Kanu Agabi and Prof. Femi Osibanjo who are however still alive, have maintained curious silence. Worse still, the court did not at any time invite them to clarify Rogers’ allegations. This can easily be linked to a saying that ‘when justice is tainted by prejudice and politics, it loses its essence.’