Al-Mustapha, Sofolahan Finally Freed. THE Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal Friday upturned the death sentence handed down to Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, the former Chief Security Officer (CSO) to late Gen. Sani Abacha, and Lateef Shofolahan, former aide to late Chief MKO Abiola by a Lagos High Court over the murder of Chief Kudirat Abiola. In a unanimous decision delivered by Justice Rita Pemu, the Justices set aside the judgment of the lower court and held that the prosecution in totality failed to establish the charge of conspiracy and murder against the appellants. In her lead judgment, Justice Pemu said it was foolhardy and unreasonable for the lower court to have so swiftly convicted the appellants when it was very evident that the prosecution had a bad case. She held that there existed a huge shadow of doubt in the case of the prosecution, which ought to be resolved in favour of the appellants. “In a criminal trial, the burden of proof is beyond reasonable doubt and this is a chain that cannot be broken. “The prosecution listed four witnesses PW 9, 10, 11 and 12 as witnesses, which it intended to call in the trial, but never called any of them. “PW 1 (Dr. Ore Falomo) testified before the lower court that the bullet extracted from the forehead of the deceased was white and of a special kind, but the prosecution failed to tender the bullet as exhibit, and this is fatal to their case. “The prosecution also called PW 4 (Investigating Police Officer, IPO), who investigated the death of the deceased, but this witness was never produced for cross-examination by the defence, as he never showed up in court. “This renders the evidence of the police officer inconclusive, as it denied the defendants their right to fair hearing, and no reasonable court can safely make a conviction on such inconclusive testimony.” She continued: “PW 2 (Sgt. Barnabas Jabila, aka Sgt. Rogers) and PW 3 (Mohammed Abdul), in their confessional statements to the police, said they were enjoined by the first appellant to murder Kudirat, but this statement was later retracted by them in court. “PW 2 and 3 retracted their earlier statement to the police and told the court that they were cajoled by the prosecution to indict the appellant, with a promise to give them monetary compensation. “This is a contradiction in the testimonies of the witness. It raises doubt in the case of the prosecution, and it is unimaginable that the lower court did not expunge this evidence. “For an offence like murder, I wonder why the Nigerian Police did not do a proper investigation. “Jabila, who was initially arrested as a co-defendant, was later called prosecution witness. Witnesses who ought to be called were never called. The bullet extracted was never tendered before the court. “Once there is doubt in the case of the prosecution, as in the instant case, it must be resolved in favour of the accused, and this doubt is accordingly resolved in favour of the appellants. “One thing is clear, Kudirat was shot, but the big question is who pulled the trigger? I find nothing in this case, which sufficiently links the appellants with the commission of the offence. “It is preposterous that in a 326-page judgment, the lower court was only concerned with securing a conviction at all cost. “Just as God is no respecter of person, so also is this court. “I hereby order that the appellants be discharged and acquitted, while the conviction and sentence of the lower court is hereby discharged. “For someone who has been incarcerated since 1998 on a baseless indictment, it is so unfortunate,” Pemu ruled.
Posted on: Sat, 13 Jul 2013 06:32:06 +0000
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