HOW A DEFECTIVE JUSTICE SYSTEM FREED MAJOR AL-MUSTAPHA BY FEMI FALANA Introduction: Under the Ibrahim Babangida junta politically motivated killings were rife in several parts of the country. The refusal by the police to investigate such killings lent credence to allegations of official involvement. The gruesome assassination of a prominent journalist, Mr. Dele Giwa by a parcel bomb in Lagos on October 19,1986 was covered up by the junta. The gallant attempts by the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi SAN to ensure the prosecution of those who were suspected to have masterminded the nefarious deed were officially frustrated. However, the Sani Abacha junta devised a dubious method of shielding official assassins from being exposed. Whenever any opposition figure was killed by the Strike Force accusing fingers were quickly pointed at the family members or political allies of the deceased . Thus, sequel to the brutal murder of Mrs. Kudirat Abiola in Lagos on June 4,1996 by unknown gunmen some members of the Abiola family and chieftains of the National democratic Coalition (NADECO) were hurriedly arrested, detained and interrogated by the police on suspicion that they committed the heinous crime! The Indictment of the Murder Suspects Upon the restoration of civil rule in May 1999, President Olusegun Obasanjo instituted the Special Investigation Panel which probed the murderous activities of the Strike Force from 1993-1998. Some of the operatives made confessional statements on the murder of Mrs Abiola, the attempted murder of Chief Alex Ibru, Chief Abraham Adesanya, Mr Isaac Poubeni et cetera. In particular, it was disclosed by the suspects that they carried out the iniquitous crimes on the orders of Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, the ex-Chief Security Officer to the late maximum ruler, General Sani Abacha. Upon the completion of investigation the Police charged the former Chief of Army Staff, General Ishaya Bamaiyi; the former Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. James Danbaba; Major Al-Mustapha; Mr. Mohammed Abacha and Mohammed Aminu with the murder of Mrs Abiola before an Ikeja Chief Magistrate Court in November 1999. The prosecutor in the matter was Mr. Nuhu Ribadu who later became the pioneer chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. Details of the Article is here:bioreports.net/news/how-a-defective-justice-system-freed-major-al-mustapha-by-femi-falana/
Posted on: Wed, 07 Aug 2013 14:10:17 +0000