At the continued trial in lagos yesterday over the 1996 murder of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, the prosecution obtained permission of the Lagos High Court to cross examine former Chief Security Officer to the Head of State Major Hamza Al-Mustapha today regarding what it said were discrepancies between what he told the court on Tuesday regarding the death of his boss General Sani Abacha in 1998 and his statement on the same subject in his prison notes many years ago. We reproduce here the notes he allegedly wrote, which is the subject of today’s cross examination.



My Boss, General Sani Muhammad Abacha, died at the early hours of Monday, 8th June, 1998. I had prepared him for a workshop organized by the Federal Ministry of Information for that day as he was expected to deliver an address as the Special Guest of Honour. His speech was drafted and fine tuned by the Chief Press Secretary, Chief David Attah who had submitted it to the Aide-De Camp for vetting and necessary amendments by the Commander-in-Chief.



Contrary to insinuations, speculations and sad rumours initiated by some sections of the society, I maintain that the sudden collapse of the health system of the late Head of State started previous day (Sunday, 7th June, 1998) right from the Abuja International Airport immediately after one of the white security operatives or personnel who accompanied President Yasser Arafat of Palestine shook hands with him (General Abacha)

I had noticed the change in the countenance of the late Commander-in-Chief and informed the Aide-de-Camp, Lt. Col. Abdallah, accordingly. He, however, advised that we keep a close watch on the Head of State.

Later in the evening of 8th June, 1998, around 6p.m; his doctor came around, administered an injection to stabilize him. He was advised to have a short rest. Happily, enough, by 9p.m; the Head of State was bouncing and receiving visitors until much later when General Jeremiah Timbut Useni, the then Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, came calling. He was fond of the Head of State. They were very good friends.

They stayed and chatted together till about 3.35a.m. A friend of the house was with me in my office and as he was bidding me farewell, he came back to inform me that the FCT Minister, General Useni was out of the Head of State’s Guest House within the Villa. I then decided to inform the ADC and other security boys that I would be on my way home to prepare for the early morning event at the International Conference Centre.

At about 5a.m; the security guards ran to my quarters to inform me that the Head of State was very unstable. At first, I thought it was a coup attempt. Immediately, I prepared myself fully for any eventuality.

As an intelligence officer and the Chief Security Officer to the Head of State for that matter, I devised a means of diverting the attention of the security boys from my escape route by asking my wife to continue chatting with them at the door – she was in the house while the boys were outside. From there, I got to the Guest House of the Head of State before them.

When I got to the bedside of the Head of State, he was already gasping. Ordinarily, I could not just touch him. It was not allowed in our job. But under the situation on ground, I knelt close to him and shouted, “General Sani Abacha, Sir, please grant me permission to touch and carry you.” I again knocked at the stool beside the bed and shouted in the same manner, yet he did not respond. I then realized there was a serious danger. I immediately called the Head of State’s personal physician, Dr. Wali, who arrived the place under eight minutes from his house.

He immediately gave Oga – General Abacha – two doses of injection, one at the heart and another close to his neck. This did not work apparently as the Head of State had turned very cold. He then told me that the Head of State was dead and nothing could be done after all.

I there and then asked the personal physician to remain with the dead body while I dashed home to be fully prepared for the problems that might arise from the incident. As soon as I informed my wife, she collapsed and burst into tears. I secured my house and then ran back.

At that point, the Aide-de-Camp had been contacted by me and we decided that great caution must be taken in handling the grave situation.

Again, i must reiterate that the issue of my boss dying on top of women was a great lie just as the insinuation that General Sani Abacha ate and died of poisoned apples was equally a wicked lie. My question is: did Chief M.K.O Abiola die of poisoned apples or did he die on top of women? As I had stated at the Oputa Panel, their deaths were organized. Pure and simple!

It was at this point that I used our special communication gadgets to diplomatically invite the Service Chiefs, Military Governors and some few elements purportedly to a meeting with the Head of State by 9a.m. at the Council Chamber. That completed, I also decided to talk to some former leaders of the nation to inform them that General Sani Abacha would like to meet them by 9a.m.

Situation became charged however, when one of the Service Chiefs, Lieutenant General Ishaya Rizi Bamaiyi, who pretended to be with us, suggested he be made the new Head of State after we had quietly informed him of the death of General Sani Abacha. He even suggested we should allow him access to Chief Abiola. We smelt a rat and other heads of security agencies, on hearing this, advised I move Chief Abiola to a safer destination. I managed to do this in spite of the fact that I had been terribly overwhelmed with the crisis at hand.

But then, when some junior officers over-heard the suggestion of one of the Service Chiefs earlier mentioned, it was suggested to me that we should finish all the members of the Provisional Ruling Council and give the general public an excuse that there was a meeting of the PRC during which a shoot-out occurred between some members of the Provisional Ruling Council and the Body Guards to the Head of State

When I sensed that we would be contending with far more delicate issues than the one on ground, I talked to Generals Buba Marwa and Ibrahim Sabo who both promptly advised us – the junior officers – against any bloodshed. They advised we contact General Ibrahim Babangida (former Military President) who equally advised against any bloodshed but that we should support the most senior officer in the Provisional Ruling Council (PRC) to be the new Head of State.

Since the words of our elders are words of wisdom, we agreed to support General Jeremiah Useni. Along the line, General Bamaiyi lampooned me saying, “Can’t you put two and two together to be four? Has it not occurred to you that General Useni who was the last man with the Head of State might have poisoned him, knowing full well that he was the most senior officer in the PRC?”

Naturally, I became furious with General Useni since General Abacha’s family had earlier on complained severally about the closeness of the two Generals; at that, a decision was taken to storm General Useni’s house with almost a battalion of soldiers to effect his arrest. Again, some heads of security units and agencies, including my wife, advised against the move.

The next most senior person and officer in government was General Abdulsalami Abubakar, who was then the Chief of Defence Staff. We rejected the other Service Chief, who, we believed, was too ambitious and destructive. We settled for General Abubakar and about six of us called him inside a room in the Head of State’s residence to break the news of the death of General Abacha to him.

As a General with vast experience, Abdulsalami Abubakar, humbly requested to see and pray for the soul of General Abacha which we allowed. Do we consider this a mistake? Because right there, he – Abubakar – went and sat on the seat of the late Head of State. Again, I was very furious. Like I said at the Oputa Panel, if caution was not applied, I would have gunned him down.

The revolution the boys were yearning for would have started right there. The assumption that we could not have succeeded in the revolution was a blatant lie. We were in full control of the State House and the Brigade of Guards. We had loyal troops in Keffi and in some other areas surrounding the seat of government – Abuja. But I allowed peace to reign because we believed it would create further crises in the country.

We followed the advice of General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida and the wise counsel of some loyal senior officers and jointly agreed that General Abdulsalami Abubakar be installed Head of State, Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces immediately after the burial of General Sani Abacha in Kano. It is an irony of history that the same Service Chief who wanted to be Head of State through bloodshed, later instigated the new members of the Provisional Ruling Council against us and branded us killers, termites and all sorts of hopeless names. They planned, arranged our arrest, intimidation and subsequent jungle trial in 1998 and 1999. These, of course, led to our terrible condition in several prisons and places of confinement.

.source:www.dailytrust.com

hmmmmmm

@OP
So what is the descripancy in the notes and what he said at the courts recently?

The media is very powerful, they imposed lies on Abacha eating an apple and being with prostitutes to make it seem like Abacha's death was eventual. Abacha's death was a big setup, setup to change Nigeria's political destiny. Since Abacha was not such a popular leader, this is welcome. However, balancing the equation by masterminding Abiola's demise just wasn't fair.

A few number of people determine political destinies of a nation not fate.

Well, in his most recent statements Al-Mustapha claimed he was not there when Abacha died, whereas the story above contained a lot of detail explaining his role in the sordid affair.

My take is that the guy was complicit in the deaths of Abacha & Abiola.

DrummaBoy:

@OP
So what is the descripancy in the notes and what he said at the courts recently?

My take on this is either somebody is telling a lie or someone is not ready to accept the truth.I've always believed that Abacha's death,same for Abiola,was a clear set-up.

his he on trial for kudirat's death or to make the historical records straight

While i don't want to believe he was involved in the death of his boss, i'm convinced that abacha & abiola's deaths were set-up. The same set of ppl responsible for the deaths.

While i don't want to believe mustapha was involved in the death of his boss, i strongly believe that abiola & abacha's deaths were set-up. The same cliq was responsible for the death of the duo.

What is the prosecution team trying to prove when the story below is far away from the crux of the matter "kudirat abiola's death"
Just giving us anothers super sotry. A classical sidney sheldon collection!

this is a big mystery to be solved,surely there nothing hidden under the sun

were can i get the oputa panel version of this story abeg

While i don't want to believe mustapha was involved in the death of his boss, i strongly believe that abiola & abacha's deaths were set-up. The same cliq was responsible for the death of the duo.

seconded

one thing is so sure, the real truth will surely come out with time

how is this related to Kudi Abiola's death?
are we still not tired of listening to all these tales this man keeps spinning?
we are giving him way too much importance.

May there soul rest in peace and i really belive Al-Mustafa hand was not in the dead of these prominents citizen. They are all dead for God sake and who ever is responsible to taht God Almighty Knows him/them so the george shall free Al-Mustafa and the day of final joergement is comming when there were no lowyers to defend any body in the here after.

Quite revealling.

kudirat's death was a casualty of war. Abacha was not ready to allow democracy to reign, so drastic action had to b taken by external and internal powers .
suspect: who advised Al-Mustapha to make Abubakar as Head of State.
P.O.W: someone had to take the blame, and it was no other person than Al-Mustapha who also had loyalties to then regime of Abacha.
influence: Abiola's death had to come cos there had to b a balance to abacha's death and internal power culd nt concede power to a man who wuld nt bow to their wants.

All this was a played down plan for Nigeria democracy "to allow foreign influence to run our mkt"  to exist and take military back to barracks.
Sacrifices had to b made.

i still believe on that man statement abacha and abiola death were organized.

Emmanog:

i still believe on that man statement abacha and abiola death were organized.

Is that suppose to be a state news? We all know this before. And please is Kudirat's death organized too? By who? He is being questioned for Kudirat's death and not Abiola or Abacha's,  So let him stop wasting our time with all this Tales by Moonlight.

Pls. Nigerians we should pardon Al-mustapha for his wrong doing. God has already comfort the families MKO

playboy19:

Is that suppose to be a state news? We all know this before. And please is Kudirat's death organized too? By who? He is being questioned for Kudirat's death and not Abiola or Abacha's, So let him stop wasting our time with all this Tales by Moonlight.

i tire

ufumes:

Quite revealling.

what new thing of relevance has been revealed?

this tales by moonlight stories that this man keeps giving us. He is on trial for Kudirat Abiola's death; not for MKO or Abacha's deaths. If the deaths were criminal that is another story for the Attorney General or whoever to look into. Imagine people now saying he has suffered enough and he should be freed. I believe in forgiving people, but not when they absolutely have no remorse for their actions.

Deciding to take somebody's life is not the same thing as stealing £1million from the commonwealth. He wasnt mad, he was thinking logically, when Kudirat's death was planned. And from all the stories we have heard he was in direct charge of the murder squad. He should end all his stories and let us face this trial and be done with it. Over this 12 years he should have written a book if he felt he had stories, then we would just buy read, and ask him questions.

What is the judge even doing self, by allowing all this long story in court. There are so many other prisoners awaiting trial for petty crimes, while this AlMustapha is using up 12 years of valuable time.

rhamzus:

kudirat's death was a casualty of war. Abacha was not ready to allow democracy to reign, so drastic action had to b taken by external and internal powers .
suspect: who advised Al-Mustapha to make Abubakar as Head of State.
P.O.W: someone had to take the blame, and it was no other person than Al-Mustapha who also had loyalties to then regime of Abacha.
influence: Abiola's death had to come cos there had to b a balance to abacha's death and internal power culd nt concede power to a man who wuld nt bow to their wants.

All this was a played down plan for Nigeria democracy "to allow foreign influence to run our mkt"  to exist and take military back to barracks.
Sacrifices had to b made.

Well said, Ex Rulers have hands in their death simple.

executinal:

Well said, Ex Rulers have hands in their death simple.

Those that advised him were the master planners of their deaths. His lawyer is just using the diversion strategy but im also enjoy the fact that he is revealing some things that may have never been mentioned.

This is really sad. To think that for a couple of hours there, this man had the destiny of the country in his hand, literally. Imagine he wanted to and could have shot Abdusalam dead and then we would have been saddled with Bamaiyi as head of state; I shudder at the very thought of Bamaiyi as head of state even for 1 hour. He would only have instigated blood shed and began his own reign of terror.

For an intelligence man Al-mustapha, u didnt sound very inteligent there for a moment. You ask y people never say that Abiola died 'on top of a woman'? Because he was in prison.  remember? you and your oga put him there and I wanna bet you didn't allow him conjugal visit. So that's y, it would never cross anybody's mind. Simple rule of comparison: compare like with like. On the other hand your oga, having hijacked and annexed Nigeria's treasury, was living in wealth and opulence and could have paid for the services of the most expensive call girl in the world, be she Indian, European or African or whatever.

It really surprises me that a lot of people are buying into this. Mind you, I never really believe the story of d indian whores. sounds just a wee bit over outlandish and novel. Pardon me, but Al-Mustapha's version isnt any more logical. All of a sudden 'the head of state was unstable'. Of cos he was unstable and that was why he died. Until you tell us d cause of the instability, the real cause, I'm sorry al-musty, we'll just make do with the Indian LovePeddler(s) or d (Indian) apple or any other story that tickles our fancy.

Can't believe it's been 13 years, but I remember like yesterday where I was the day I heard that Abacha had gone the way of his fathers. I was in El-Kanemi hall, university of Lagos. I remember because there was spontaneous jubilation and the students of El-ka immediately took to the streets. I didnt join but i vividly remember leaning over the wall to watch other students along Akoka road marching towards FCE Akoka. And i remembered thinking that it was real sad when people celebrate the death of another person, seeing as we are all going to leave this plane one way or the other.

The only thing he said that makes any kind of sense is the fact that General Abacha's death was planned/organised. I  agree wholeheartedly. And that's why I still believe in the entity called Nigeria. Because God still has plans for us. (Sorry to disappoint all the conspiracy theorist, I believe it's God that ultimately rules over the affairs of man. He sets up rulers and disposes of them).

God bless Nigeria.

Abeg free dis guy jor. 12yrs's enuf.

pinkrex:

Those that advised him were the master planners of their deaths. His lawyer is just using the diversion strategy but im also enjoy the fact that he is revealing some things that may have never been mentioned.

I think you're right

velo10:

The media is very powerful, they imposed lies on Abacha eating an apple and being with LovePeddlers to make it seem like Abacha's death was eventual. Abacha's death was a big setup, setup to change Nigeria's political destiny. Since Abacha was not such a popular leader, this is welcome. However, balancing the equation by masterminding Abiola's demise just wasn't fair.

A few number of people determine political destinies of a nation not fate.

How naive you are. How old are you sef? So you actually believed this account of Al-Mustapha? Ok, i have a bridge to sell to you, and very cheap also. Read the below quote by Al-Mustapha and compare it to the one your so called media fed you.

Contrary to insinuations, speculations and sad rumours initiated by some sections of the society, I maintain that the sudden collapse of the health system of the late Head of State started previous day (Sunday, 7th June, 1998) right from the Abuja International Airport immediately after one of the white security operatives or personnel who accompanied President Yasser Arafat of Palestine shook hands with him (General Abacha)

" I maintain that the sudden collapse of the health system of the late head of state started previous day (Sunday, 7th June. 1998) right from the Abuja International Airport immediately after one of the white security operatives or personnel who accompanied President Yasser Arafat of Palestine shook hands with him (General Abacha) " am i d only one seein ds!