Breaking news on superscreen TV says AL Mustapha has been freed by the federal government.

More to follow,

Halleluiah! True justice indeed. I have longed n prayed for his release. I'm happy for him n his family, nevertheless if justice finally finds him wanting, prison all d way. For now, welcome home.

alihamdulilai

I got a call from my cousine in yankee few minutes ago,he asked me if it was true and i told him i ve got no clue. I checked cnn,bbc,sahara reporters, allafrica.com and cld nt see anything on it. Thanks 2u guys in nairaland 4d info. Nice political strategy by GJE

Yea, a confirmed killer, and one of the main architects of some of the major problems bedeviling the country today gets freed and this is hailed as "good political strategy by GEJ"?! This is the same Democracy this illiterate almajiri lizard was trying to crush that has now set him free!!! How did this guy ever miss the gallows of KiriKiri?

He cant even be regarded as an exconvict which means he is free to contest elections, win and propagate Abachaism. This is no banana republic. This is a classic jungle we live in.

Bofoons. GEJ will be a fool to think this will earn him one northern vote. Ode.

Freed based on what?

Pls who is Al Mustafa?

Ymodulus:

Pls who is Al Mustafa?

I dey laugh O

christmass gift to the North. I love Nigeria. I dey laugh tooo

if it's indeed true, i know dat this will b one of GEJ political strategy. I pity him cos u can comfortably give water 2 a monkey with a cup, but take d cup back. For where,

Pls who is Al Mustafa?

are u a Nigerian or underage?

Pennywise:

He cant even be regarded as an exconvict which means he is free to contest elections, win and propagate Abachaism. This is no banana republic. This is a classic jungle we live in.

Bofoons. GEJ will be a fool to think this will earn him one northern vote. Ode.

Why do you think its a foolish thing to do? if the story is true then its a commendable one. The guy has been on a kangaroo trial for 11 yrs without conviction.

Al Mustafa? was a hired killer who killed many pro democracy people. he shoot them under nigeria dictactor  General Sanni Abacha. . how can anyone free this man. I think it is wrong to put him in jail without taken him to court but freedom is not an option without a court case.

This man and oga roger killed as many people who wanted democracy.  Even in the north , i dont think they support that nonsense.

Is like telling nigerian, if you talk to me about democracy, I shoot you.

he deserved to be killed. what of those he kill?

yemmight:

Freed based on what?

Base on Politics of sentiments. Jonathan will do anything to get 2011. I wonder what will happen afterward.

Hope they will not tell us its because he have been there for long? Because he (Jonathan) is the one with the responsibility to trail him - Either prove he is guilty or not.

Anyway am not surprise - since criminals/armed robbers/enemies-of-the-state/militants get to hang out with Mr Presido in Aso Rock - why would a man, so brutal that Diya and co knelt before, join the table for Dinner.

Was he ever convicted? If no y d ill wish for him?

He was a soldier under command, pure and simple. Did his Nairaland critics watch him before d Justice Okputa panel? Even d respected Justice commended him at some points n couldn hardly find fault wt him. He is much more reasonable dn many of his critics on Nairaland when he speaks in his defense.

It's unfortunate dt he Ws involved in such cruel acts, bt despite all, how many of us would do otherwise if we were in his shoes? How many were in his position and did differently? By d way, I guess d case is still in court, so don't let us b prejudicial.

JUO:

are u a Nigerian or underage?

underage

you are waiting for nigeria system. if he did not kill them, how did they die. The only problem is, he never got a fair treatment at the court. Which is wrong. Even if he was a criminal, he should have a fair treatment. Which he never did.
Al Mustapha is nigeria version Chemical Ali he kill you with one bullet.
what the north should do is get thier senators to work with edo,delta and yorubas and remove us into benin republic. This will end up in a bloodly civil war. you need 73 senators, you would get 73 senators.

@Homerac7: ure right I didn't get to see the Oputa Panel on TV. Honestly, I didn't even get to hear of the Oputa Panel until recently. As for Justice Oputa "commending him at some point", if u were in his shoes what would u do after viewing tapes of decorated and battle tested Generals dobale"ing" to an ordinary Major?! Oya gimme ur answer. Abi u think na only u wan live see ur grand children?

I'm happy for his release. I think it has been long overdue. No matter his offense, being dumped in kirikiri for 11 years without trial is great injustice to him as well, Kudos to GEJ for taking the bull by the horn. Others only played politics with justice.

Ymodulus:

Pls who is Al Mustafa?

 

This might help;

Dr Sabella Ogbobode Abidde

Major Hamza Al-Mustapha – a former aide to Sani Abacha – continues to be held without trial in Nigeria, No matter how dubious a person's reputation may be, Nigeria needs to move away from the anti-democratic legal practices that characterised its former military regime, Abidde concludes.
Worldwide, there have been more than a thousand 'trials of the decade' or 'trials of the century'. Among these are the trial of Socrates in 399 B.C., the trial of Galileo Galilei in 1633, the Salem witchcraft trial of 1692, the infamous Alger Hiss trials of 1949–50, the apartheid-era trial of Nelson Mandela of 1963–64 and the 1995 O.J. Simpson trial. And then there were the Nuremberg trials, which took place in Bavaria, Germany, from 1945 until 1949, and of course the recent Slobodan Milosevic trial at The Hague, which ended after almost five years without a formal verdict because Milosevic suffered a fatal heart attack.

Even in Nigeria, there have been some very famous court trials – real and shambolic. For instance, in November 1962, Chief Obafemi Awolowo and 28 other members of his party, the Action Group (AG), were put on trial for treasonable felony. In the intervening years, great men like Fela Anikulapo Kuti and Gani Fawehinmi were also dragged through the court system on trumped-up charges. University students, journalists and members of the intellectual class were also dragged through the system. Sometimes, the verdicts are clear; at other times, the cases simply 'disappear'.

Every so often, however, we have instances were the cases go on and on and on, almost without end. One such case is that of Al-Mustapha (and his alleged co-conspirators). Indeed, peculiar circumstances may elongate trial durations. Under such a condition, the accused and the general public are made aware of the reasons why, unless of course there are issues of national security at play. In the case of Al-Mustapha, the government, it seems, have simply decided to abridge his constitutional rights. If not, how else can they explain a decade-long trial, a trial without an end in sight!

Retired Major Hamza Al-Mustapha was the chief security officer (CSO) to the late General Sani Abacha. Amongst other charges, he was accused of 'planning or helping to plan the murder of Mr. Alex Ibru, publisher of The Guardian newspaper'. Al-Mustapha may not be a nice man, and indeed, he may be one of the most despicable human beings that ever traversed Nigeria. But that’s not the point; he is not being held simply because he was not a nice fellow. He and his alleged co-conspirators are being held because of a series of criminal complaints made against them.

Why are they still being held a decade after the allegations were first made? Why is Al-Mustapha still being detained without a speedy and fair trial? A recent report by the Punch newspaper (Friday 26 March 2010), stated that the 'Absence of electricity supply at an Ikeja High Court on Thursday stalled the ongoing trial of Maj. Hamza al-Mustapha … Our correspondent, however, observed that there was power supply to all other courts except that of Justice Olokooba…' Other media houses also reported this strange event.

Is Al-Mustapha a security risk? We don’t know. Did he endanger the wellbeing of the nation? We don’t know. Is he a murderer? We don’t know. Did he conspire with others to kill the innocent? We don’t know. We don’t know the answers to these and other legal questions because the courts, either at the state or federal level, have not made a legal proclamation. A decade later, we still don’t know. Must it take another decade before he knows his fate and for us to know the answers? This is a travesty, a violation of his rights.

Sadly and unfortunately, the Nigerian Bar Association and civil society in Nigeria have not deemed it fit to protest this illegality. To detain a man – whether we like him or not – for this long is unconscionable. His continued detention is against the law and common sense. Whatever Al-Mustapha did while an aide to General Abacha should not factor into how the courts treat him. If he committed prosecutable offences, well then, let justice take its course – fairly and speedily. Prosecute him now or set him free; prosecute him now or let him return to his family.

We cannot now embrace the same things we abhorred during the military regime when fellow Nigerians were detained without fair and speedy trials. We cannot condemn Al-Mustapha and then turn around and do to him what we are alleging he did to other Nigerians. Revenge is not justice; bosom-for-tat is not justice. Throw the Criminal Code of Conduct at him, throw the constitution at him, but do it in a fair and just manner.

What manner of law allows the government to incarcerate a man indefinitely, and what kind of people turns a blind eye to the illegal dealings of its government? The continuing detention of Hamza Al-Mustapha and others should be denounced by all peace- and democracy-loving Nigerians. If the government can arbitrarily detain fellow Nigerians then none of us must feel safe and secure. At a time when we should be reaping the benefits of democratic rule, our government is, essentially, kidnapping fellow Nigerians. If after 10 years they cannot secure a conviction, how many more years do they need?

As responsible and civic-minded Nigerians, it is therefore up to us to faithfully protest and vigorously condemn his continuing detention. It is our duty to help protect Hamza Al-Mustapha’s civil liberties. By doing so, we help to strengthen our position and our freedom before this and future governments. We safeguard our own constitutional rights if we help guarantee the constitutional rights of fellow Nigerians. We cannot and must not leave this or future governments to their own devices. No. We’ll be courting disaster if we do so. Therefore, we must demand that the government conclude this case within 90 days, or set the accused free. Let’s demand justice, not just for ourselves and for our friends, but also for our enemies and our critics.


* Dr Sabella Ogbobode Abidde is with the Department of Humanities at Alabama State University. Outside of the academy, he is a noted public intellectual who has written extensively on African and global affairs.

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/63692

http://www.usafricaonline.com/nigeria_almustapha.html


Or you can just google his story.

There've been a sort of growing civil movement clamoring for his release on the grounds of justice and equity -mainly because he's been in detention since 1999 without a judicial sentence.

A lot of us remember him as a dangerous Abacha Henchman and a possible murderer, but we do not have the proof.

All we know is that he was one of those close military associates of General Sani Abacha -The Dark goggled dictator who made Nigeria a living hell in the 90's.

Nairalanders, this man has been incarcerated for 10yrs with no concrete evidence against him. Where in the world will this happen? Now that our judiciary is waking up and doing the right thing, we are still bickering over the North - South thing. Militants killed hundreds, yet were given pardon; note there is no evidence before the court of law to convict him. For God to answer our prayers to move this country forward, we MUST ALWAYS be just, and put sentiments aside. We should always look at issues in their true context, and not North/South or Moslem/Christain. God help us all, and guide us right.

I used to love his kaftan during dat Oputa something.  

Ymodulus:

underage

So you mean you are too young to remember the Abacha years(even the 1999 arrests) but, you are old enough to conclude that "Yorubas are illiterates" in your NL siggy?

Gotta love Nairaland. . . SMH

mekay:

Why do you think its a foolish thing to do? if the story is true then its a commendable one. The guy has been on a kangaroo trial for 11 yrs without conviction.

Abacha the cretin General killed a lot of innocent pple most of whom were unknown to the media. The ones that came out in the media were mostly the phantom coup victims he created.

Abacha did not pull the triggers on his victims. He used his aids like Al mustapha to commit these murders.

Sadly the lack of proper knowledge of the law and stupidity of public prosecutors along with the gaping holes in our laws made it possible for him to stall the trial and conviction of this low life impish character.

Maybe Jonathan shouldnt stop there. He should reinstate him in the army and give him accelerated promotion for time spent in prison

I hpe GEJ didnt get dis 1rung oooo

The guy will never be released cuz he has a lot of case to answer.I'm sure he will be re-arrested for those if at all he's ever released.howver,the only Mustapha i learnt as of now is the deputy chairman of ACN that was re-elected this afternoon

Read d news on bbc (hausa section). He was acquainted of some, not all. The charge against him of the murder of Kudirat still stand. So I doubt if he is release.

~Bluetooth:

The guy will never be released cuz he has a lot of case to answer.I'm sure he will be re-arrested for those if at all he's ever released.howver,the only Mustapha i learnt as of now is the deputy chairman of ACN that was re-elected this afternoon

If it is found that it was Abacha's ADC that was released, pple should seriously question the ability of Jonathan and his wife to rule this country

Give Nigerians enough time and they will absolutely forgive SATAN and hug him with loving arms.