Lagos – Founder of the Oodua Peoples Congress
(OPC), Dr Frederick Fasheun, on Friday hailed the
Appeal Court’s judgment acquitting Major Hamza
Al-Mustapha (rtd), urging him to forgive his long
detention.
The Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos on July 12,
discharged and acquitted Major Hamza Al-
Mustapha of the murder of Kudirat Abiola.
Kudirat, was the wife of the late Chief M.K.O
Abiola.
Al-Mustapha, a former Chief Security Officer
(CSO) to the late Head of State, Gen. Sanni
Abacha, was sentenced to death on Jan. 30 for
conspiracy and murder of Kudirat Abiola.
The late Kudirat was shot in Lagos on June 4,
1996.
The Appeal Court judgment overruled the Lagos
High Court’s judgment which sentenced him to
death by hanging.
In a statement in Lagos, Fasheun stated, “I am
vindicated; I knew Al-Mustapha neither ordered,
nor had a hand in the killing of Alhaja Kudirat
Abiola; and that was why I stood by him.”
Fasheun expressed joy at the unanimous
decision read by Justice Rita Pemu.
“I commend the judgment by the Court of
Appeal. I salute the courage which it displayed
in the face of daunting politics and powerful
interests who wanted Al-Mustapha hanged by all
means.
“People used to tell me they could not
understand why I would be going to court in
support of an officer who served in a regime that
detained me for almost three years.
“But, I told them that I had lived my entire life
based on the principle of justice. And I would
still protest injustice being done to even my
worst enemy,” he stated.
According to him, the judgment has given way
for healing to begin throughout the country as it
closes the chapter on an ugly era in the history
of Nigeria.
“Mustapha and his family must find it in their
hearts to forgive collectively,” Fasheun stated.
Fasheun, however, recommended that based on
the appeal judgment, the National Judicial
Council (NJC) should review the judgment last
year and impose sanction if necessary.
“It beats the imagination that all the
prosecution witnesses confessed in open court
that they had been forced to lie against Al-
Mustapha, and yet he was sentenced to death,”
he added. (NAN)
Source:vanguard
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