By Nasiru Ibrahim.
The Supreme Court has dismissed the long-running murder case against the former Chief Security Officer to late military Head of State, General Sani Abacha, Hamza Al-Mustapha, over the killing of Kudirat Abiola.
In a unanimous judgment delivered by a five-man panel of justices led by Justice Uwani Musa Aba-Aji, the apex court dismissed the appeal filed by the Lagos State Government, holding that the state had abandoned the prosecution.
Kudirat Abiola was the wife of late businessman and politician, Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola, the presumed winner of the annulled June 12, 1993 presidential election.
She was murdered in Lagos during the nationwide unrest that followed the annulment, amid her sustained struggle to reverse the decision of the military government.
Justice Uwani Aba-Aji observed that the prosecutor failed to show seriousness in pursuing the case for over nine years.
The court also expressed displeasure that no legal representative appeared for the Lagos State Government, with explanation provided to the court or to the respondent despite being duly served with hearing notices since 2020, and consequently dismissed the case.
