Like a change in fortune, the onetime “death row inmate” Major Hamza Al-Mustapha who was the Former Chief Security Officer to late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, has been discharged and acquitted by the Court of Appeal in Lagos for the murder of Kudirat Abiola.
The judgment overturns that of the Lagos High Court which sentenced both men to death by hanging.
The presiding judge accused the lower court of being “stroked to secure a conviction by all means.”
He was sentenced to death on January 30 for conspiracy and murder of Mrs. Abiola. Mrs. Abiola, 45, was shot in Lagos on June 4, 1996, as the lower court ruled, on the orders of Mr. Al-Mustapha.
As soon as news of his release was made know, it instantly threw citizens of the ancient city of Kano into wild celebration as mosques and other gathering areas of the people in the state conducted special prayers expressing thanks to Allah for the historic day which saw the former CSO set free from his long incarceration.
Kan