SEGUN ADENIYI: Al-Mustapha: The Colour of Justice

The Verdict By Olusegun Adeniyi. Email, olusegun.adeniyi@thisdaylive.com

“The Don often quoted the saying, ‘Rather a hundred guilty men go free than one innocent man be punished,’ then added, ‘What a beautiful country.’”

The foregoing is taken from Mario Puzo’s novel, “The Last Don”, the gripping sequel to his classic, “The Godfather”. In that short narrative, Don Domenico Clericuzio was mocking the American justice system he took maximum advantage of to amass enormous wealth and power, while living above the law. Yet it is within the context of his sarcasm that one can easily situate the controversy currently trailing the acquittal last week of Major Hamza Al Mustapha and Alhaji Lateef Shofolahan, in the murder trial of Mrs Kudirat Olayinka Abiola.

Court of Appeal Acquits Al-Mustapha

Major Hamza Al-Mustapha 

Former Chief Security Officer to late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha 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.