Olushola Omogbehin
The Supreme Court has dismissed the trial of of Major Hamza Al-Mustapha (rtd), former Chief Security Officer to the late Military Head of State, General Sani Abacha in the murder of late politician, Alhaja Kudirat Abiola.
The trial which was brought against Al-Mustapha by the Lagos State government was, put to rest on Thursday by a 5-man panel of Justices of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Uwani Aba-Aji.
As Lagos State was slated to re-open the trial during the proceeding, no legal representation was made.
Since 2014 when order to re-open the case was granted in favour of the state government, no process was filed.
Paul Da Senior Advocate of Nigeria stood for Al-Mustapha, inform the Justices that Lagos has not taken any step to implement the order granted it in 2014 to re-open the trial. Not even a notice of appeal was filed by Lagos as the appellant to show its seriousness to prosecute the trial.
The senior lawyer informed the Apex Court that in 2014 when order to re-open the trial was granted, Lagos was issued a 30 day ultimatum to file its notice of appeal but nothing has been done nine years after.
He appealed to the Court that the case should be dismissed in its entirety.
In the ruling, Justice Aba-Aji held that nine years was long enough for the appellant to have filed notice of appeal and the appeal in the matter and therefore agreed that Lagos has lost interest in the matter.
Kudirat Abiola was the wife of Chief MKO Abiola, the presumed winner of the June 12, 1993 Presidential Election that was annulled by former President Ibrahim Babangida.
Mrs Kudirat Abiola was, however, murdered in Lagos in the nationwide crisis that followed the annulment and in the course of her persistent struggle to get the annulment reversed by the military.
