The Supreme Court has officially brought an end to the murder trial of Major Hamza Al-Mustapha (rtd), the former Chief Security Officer (CSO) to late Military Head of State, General Sani Abacha, in connection with the killing of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola.
Kudirat Abiola, the wife of the late businessman and politician Chief MKO Abiola, who was widely regarded as the winner of the annulled June 12, 1993, presidential election, was murdered in Lagos amid the nationwide unrest that followed the annulment.
Her killing occurred during her determined campaign to have the military overturn the annulment.
The Supreme Court, in a hearing on Thursday led by Justice Uwani Aba-Aji and a five-member panel, dismissed the case, which had been brought by Lagos State, as the government failed to prosecute it after more than a decade.
At the scheduled session to resume the trial, no representatives from Lagos State appeared, and no filings had been made since 2014, when the apex court had granted the state permission to reopen the case.
Al-Mustapha’s lawyer, Senior Advocate Paul Daudu, informed the Court that Lagos State had not taken any action to comply with the 2014 order.
“Not even a notice of appeal has been filed by Lagos as the appellant to demonstrate its seriousness in prosecuting the trial,” he stated.
Daudu explained that Lagos State had been given a 30-day deadline to file its notice of appeal after the order to reopen the trial was granted.
Over 11 years later, no steps had been taken. He urged the Court to rule that the state had abandoned the case and that it should be dismissed entirely.
Justice Aba-Aji confirmed that Lagos State had been served with the hearing notice, as verified by the Court Registrar. In its ruling, the Supreme Court agreed unanimously that the state had shown a lack of interest and had effectively abandoned the prosecution.
The Court noted that nine years was ample time for Lagos State to submit a notice of appeal and related documents. It further criticized the absence of legal representation from the state government and the failure to provide any information to the Court or the respondent, despite being served with the hearing notice since 2020.
Consequently, the case recorded as SC/CR/45/2014 was dismissed. A related matter filed by the Lagos governor, SC/CR/6/2014, was also dismissed on the same grounds.
The Supreme Court had previously, in 2014, granted Lagos State permission to reopen the case to challenge the July 12, 2013 Court of Appeal decision that had discharged and acquitted Al-Mustapha.
The then Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen, directed a seven-member panel to allow the state 30 days to file its notice of appeal.
This followed Al-Mustapha’s lawyer, Joseph Daudu SAN, consenting not to oppose Lagos State’s application, which was presented by Osunsanya Oluwayemisi, a Senior State Counsel in the Lagos Ministry of Justice.
Justice Onnoghen had ruled that the time for Lagos to appeal the Court of Appeal’s verdict, delivered on July 12, 2013, was extended until January 7, 2014. This gave Lagos State the opportunity to contest the not-guilty verdict in favor of Al-Mustapha.
In seeking to reopen the trial, Lagos State had requested the Supreme Court’s permission to file a late notice of appeal, citing miscarriage of justice.
The government argued it sought to exercise its constitutional right to test the correctness of the Court of Appeal judgment and intended to raise legal and factual issues, particularly regarding whether there was any evidence, direct or circumstantial, linking Al-Mustapha to the murder.
The state explained that delays in filing the appeal were caused by the formation of two legal teams to review the case and the appellate judgment. It said the teams needed time to assess the situation and recommend whether an appeal could be filed successfully.
Lagos State intended to ask the Supreme Court to overturn the Court of Appeal’s acquittal and restore the death sentence imposed on Al-Mustapha by a Lagos High Court on January 30, 2012.
Al-Mustapha, Mohammed Abacha, and Lateef Shofolahan had initially been arraigned before a Lagos High Court on charges of conspiracy and murder of Kudirat Abiola, who was killed on June 4, 1996.
On January 30, 2012, Justice Moji Dada ruled that all three were guilty as charged and sentenced them to death by hanging.
However, in April 2012, Al-Mustapha appealed the decision. On July 12, 2013, the Court of Appeal, in a unanimous verdict, overturned the High Court’s ruling, discharging and acquitting the accused due to insufficient evidence to sustain the death sentence.
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