Al-Mustapha walks free as Supreme Court ends Kudirat Abiola case

The Supreme Court of Nigeria has struck out the long-running criminal case against Major Hamza Al-Mustapha (retd), former Chief Security Officer to the late Head of State, General Sani Abacha, over the murder of Kudirat Abiola.

The apex court’s decision followed the formal withdrawal of the case by the Lagos State Government, which was the prosecuting authority in the matter. The court held that once the state chose to discontinue the prosecution, there was no longer any basis for the trial to continue before the courts.

Kudirat Abiola, wife of the late businessman and politician, Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola, was assassinated in Lagos in June 1996, at the height of the political crisis that followed the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election.

Al-Mustapha was arraigned alongside others over the killing and faced years of trial marked by intense public interest, legal twists, and appeals. In 2013, the Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos had acquitted Al-Mustapha, citing insufficient evidence linking him directly to the crime. However, the case lingered in the legal system following attempts to revive aspects of the prosecution.

In its ruling, the Supreme Court noted that the power of a state government to withdraw from prosecuting a criminal case is provided for under the law, and once properly exercised, the courts are bound to give effect to it.

The decision effectively brings to an end one of Nigeria’s most controversial and protracted criminal cases, closing a chapter in the judicial history surrounding the Abacha era and the struggle for justice over the killing of Kudirat Abiola.