The high hopes of getting a judgment on the decade-long trial of former Chief Security Officer (CSO) Major Hamza Al-Mustapha to late Head of State, Sanni Abacha, over the assassination of Kudirat Abiola was dashed today as the presiding judge fixed her ruling for the 30th January, 2012.
The high hopes of getting a judgment on the decade-long trial of former Chief Security Officer (CSO) Major Hamza Al-Mustapha to late Head of State, Sanni Abacha, over the assassination of Kudirat Abiola was dashed today as the presiding judge fixed her ruling for the 30th January, 2012.
Presenting their written submissions to the Lagos High Court, both the prosecuting and defence counsels had their final argument in the crowded courtroom after which the judge fixed judgment in the case for January 2012.
Counsel to the defendant, Mr Olalekan Ojo presented a 112 pages of written address in over one hour where he argued that the key witnesses of the prosecution team (Sergant Barnabas Rogers and Kakako) have lost their credility before the court because they gave 'inconsistent evidence' and therefore, his client should be declared ''not guilty.''
The lawyer noted that the two prosecution witnesses were also used in three other cases against certain members of the Nigerian Army and Nigerian Police Force who served during Abacha's era, and the courts have had all their statements referred because they were conflicting. ''Where a witness has two/more conflicting evidences before the court, the court does not consider the credibility of such witness and the defendant should be adjudged non-guilty because a witness that affirms he can narrate what he is told in a trial has no credibility before the court'' stated Mr Ojo.
Ojo also added that the second witness; Katako had during his cross-examination, ''refuted his statements in the evidence in-chief'' and ''denied the allegation'' that he drove Sergent Rogers to kill the deceased because he was far away in Azare his home-town in Bauchi state for a Nikai (Islamic wedding) on the fateful day. And that he (Katako) was promised, 10% of Abacha's loot and a house in Jos to make the claims he made to the prosecution.
The defence counsel also cited Evidence D15 made on the 24/05/1999, where Sergent Rogers made a ''total denial of being instructed by Major Al-Mustapha to kill anybody or being in Lagos.''
He further argued that the prosecution also failed to bring a member of the Abiola family to come and identify whether the second defendant, Alhaji Lateef Shofolahan ever worked with the Abiola family. Mr Shofolahan is also standing trial for the murder of late Kudirat Abiola. He is alleged to have provided the details of the movement of the wife of the June 12 presidential election winner to the killer squad that assassinated her. Mrs Abiola at the time of her gruesome murder was a vocal critic of the Abacha junta which held her husband in continued detention and denied him of his mandate. Mr Shofolahan denied this allegation during the trial.
The defence counsel in a seemingly sober mood rounded off his long address stating that his client-Al Mustapha was arrested in October 1998, ''if some people wanted the defendant punished, they should be satisfied by now with his detention for the past 13 years'' he said referring to the length of the trial. He added that the ''fact of the case killed the case.''
However, the defence counsel, led by the Solicitor general of Lagos state; Pedro Lawal (SAN) in a very short address stated that ''conspiracy to commit murder is different from murder and if proofed, is liable to 14years imprisonment.'' ''There are complicit evidence of conspiracy to murder between the defendent-Al Mustapha and Sergant Rogers'' which according to the senior lawyer, ''can be inferred from the relationship between the two.''
The judge then annonuced the 30th of January, 2012 as the day for her final judgement day for what is perhaps the longest trial in history of Nigeria's legal world.
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