A Lagos Court of Appeal, Friday, discharged and acquitted former Chief Security Officer to late Sanni Abacha, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha of involvement in the murder of late Alhaja Kudirat Abiola. The verdict of the upper court invalidates the death penalty passed on 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 being 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. Pemu 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. "The lower court was being “stroked to secure a conviction by all means,"she said. Justices Amina Augie and Fatima Akinbami agreed with the lead judgment. The new panel assumed jurisdiction over the protracted matter following the withdrawal of Justice Ibrahim Saulawa, from it on April,2013 on personal grounds. Solicitor-General and Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Justice, Mr. Lawal Pedro (SAN) had prayed the upper court to uphold the trial court’s judgment at the hearing of the appeals. He told the court in a reply to the appellants’ briefs that Al-Mustapha committed the crime because the regime he served was noted for heinous crimes which killed people perceived as opposition of 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. Ramadan Kareem
Posted on: Sat, 13 Jul 2013 11:21:57 +0000
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