Abuja: The Supreme Court has dismissed the long-running murder case against Major Hamza Al-Mustapha (rtd), former Chief Security Officer to late Head of State, General Sani Abacha, over the killing of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola.
Delivering the lead judgment on Thursday, Justice Uwani Aba-Aji, heading a five-member panel, held that the Lagos State Government abandoned the appeal challenging Al-Mustapha’s acquittal.
Kudirat Abiola, wife of late business mogul and politician, Chief MKO Abiola, was assassinated in Lagos during the political unrest that followed the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election.
At the hearing, Lagos State was absent and had no legal representation. The court was informed that since 2014—when it granted the state permission to re-open the case—no notice of appeal or further process had been filed.
Al-Mustapha’s counsel, Paul Daudu, SAN, told the court that despite a 30-day ultimatum issued in 2014, Lagos failed to take any step to prosecute the appeal, urging the apex court to dismiss the matter for want of diligent prosecution.
Although the court registrar confirmed that Lagos State had been served with hearing notices, the justices unanimously ruled that the state had lost interest in the case.
Justice Aba-Aji described the nine-year delay as inexcusable and expressed displeasure that Lagos neither appeared in court nor offered any explanation despite being served since 2020.
Consequently, the appeal marked SC/CR/45/2014 was dismissed. A related appeal filed by the Lagos State Governor, SC/CR/6/2014, was also struck out on the same grounds.
The Supreme Court had, in 2014, granted Lagos leave to appeal against the July 12, 2013 judgment of the Court of Appeal which discharged and acquitted Al-Mustapha. The state, however, failed to act on the order.
Al-Mustapha had earlier been sentenced to death by hanging by a Lagos High Court in 2012 alongside Mohammed Abacha and Lateef Shofolahan, but the Court of Appeal overturned the conviction, citing insufficient evidence.
