The Supreme Court has dismissed a long-dormant attempt by the Lagos State Government to reopen the murder case against Hamza Al-Mustapha, former chief security officer to the late military ruler, General Sani Abacha, over the killing of Kudirat Abiola.
Kudirat Abiola, wife of the late MKO Abiola, was assassinated in Lagos on June 4, 1996. Al-Mustapha and Lateef Shofolahan, a former aide to Kudirat, were later charged by the Lagos State Government with conspiracy and murder.
In January 2012, Justice Mojisola Dada of the Lagos High Court sentenced both men to death. The convictions were, however, overturned on July 12, 2013, when the Court of Appeal in Lagos discharged and acquitted them, citing insufficient evidence linking them to the crime.
Lagos State subsequently sought to challenge the acquittal at the Supreme Court. In January 2017, the apex court granted the state additional time to file its appeal and ordered it to submit a notice of appeal within 30 days.
Despite the extension, the state failed to file the required documents or take any concrete step to prosecute the appeal for nearly nine years.
At the hearing on Thursday, Al-Mustapha’s lawyer, Paul Daudu (SAN), told the court that the state had effectively abandoned the case, urging the justices to dismiss it.
A five-member panel of the Supreme Court, led by Justice Uwani Aba-Aji, confirmed that Lagos State was duly served with hearing notices but was not represented in court and offered no explanation for its absence.
In a brief ruling, the panel held that the prolonged delay showed a lack of interest in pursuing the appeal and dismissed the case, marked SC/CR/45/2014, bringing the matter to a final close.
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