By Adenike Lawal
The Supreme Court has struck out the long-running murder case against Major Hamza Al-Mustapha (rtd), former Chief Security Officer to late military ruler Sani Abacha, over the killing of pro-democracy activist Alhaja Kudirat Abiola.
In a unanimous decision on Thursday, a five-member panel of the apex court, led by Justice Uwani Aba-Aji, dismissed appeals filed by the Lagos State Government, ruling that the state had abandoned the prosecution.
The court held that Lagos State failed to appear at the hearing and had not filed any legal processes since 2014, despite being granted permission to re-open the case. Counsel to Al-Mustapha, Paul Daudu, SAN, told the court that the state ignored a 30-day window granted to file a notice of appeal and took no steps to prosecute the matter for over nine years.
Justice Aba-Aji confirmed that the state was duly served with hearing notices, describing its conduct as unacceptable. The appeal marked SC/CR/45/2014 was accordingly dismissed, while a related appeal filed by the Lagos State governor, SC/CR/6/2014, was also struck out.
Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, wife of the late MKO Abiola, was assassinated in Lagos on June 4, 1996, during the struggle following the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election.
The ruling brings to a close a case dating back more than a decade. In 2013, the Court of Appeal had discharged and acquitted Al-Mustapha, overturning a Lagos High Court judgment that sentenced him and others to death, citing insufficient evidence.
With Thursday’s decision, the Supreme Court has formally laid the matter to rest.
