A
former Chief Security Officer to the late head of state, Gen. Sani Abacha,
Major Hamza Al-Mustapha (retd.), on Saturday, claimed that the cause of death
of the acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election in
Nigeria, Chief MKO Abiola, and the late businessman’s last moments were
recorded on video.
Al-Mustapha
hinted that the existence of the tape was known to a few Nigerians and also
attributed his incarceration to his attempts to preserve the videotape.
However, in swift reactions, a former physician to Abiola, Dr. Ore Falomo, and
a human rights activist, Yinka Odumakin, dismissed Al-Mustapha’s claims as an
attempt to rewrite history.
The former CSO spoke about the tape and other matters
when he fielded questions shortly after he delivered the third South-West
annual lecture titled, ‘Developing leadership abilities in youths’, which was
organised by the Asorodayo Youth Heritage Organisation, at Lafia Hotel, Ibadan,
Oyo State.
He
said, “On October 21, 1998, I was arrested because of a video cassette, not
because of the late Kudirat Abiola. The family of the late Abiola was, as it
is, a very close family to me. But something happened, which a particular
camera in the villa captured.
“So,
they wanted to take the videotape and burn it so that Nigerians would not know
what happened. That was the beginning of my travails.”
While
he served Abacha, Al-Mustapha had a fearsome reputation for
high-handedness, brutality and was widely seen as one of the most
powerful men in the country. Shortly after Abacha died, his former CSO was
arraigned for a long list of crimes. However, at the Ibadan event, he claimed
he was persecuted because of the videotape.
He
said, “For 15 years, I didn’t have the chance to defend myself in newspaper,
radio and television. So, the belief was Mustapha had committed an offence,
even before my arrest. But the actual thing that happened to the late MKO
Abiola is in that cassette that they want to see, that is why Mustapha was
subjected to punishment and I was called names. They have wanted to know the
whereabouts of that tape in the last 17 years.
“I appeared before 14 judges in Lagos. As soon as the
matter was about to finish, they would stop it and take us to another court.
For 15 years, I was in that state. Out of the 15 years, five years and two
months, I served in detention with torture. The remaining was between Ikoyi
Prisons, Kirikiri Prisons and Kuje Prisons.
“Many people, particularly lawyers, took money from those
who were looking for the cassette. They would go to radio and television
stations to rain abuses on me, rather than coming to court. But they did not
know what was going on in the court of law.”
However,
the former Army Major, who did not shed light on the whereabouts of the tape,
made strenuous efforts to debunk the widely held belief that he organised and
superintended the assassination of the late wife of Abiola, Kudirat.
He
said, “On the late Kudirat Abiola, Rogers himself confessed in a court of law
along with other witnesses how much money they were given. Rogers confessed he
was told to do so. He was given money. He was given a house.
He
was given a car every six months, and he was promised to be taken outside
Nigeria. The plan was as soon as Lagos court pronounced me guilty and I was to
be hanged, then they would rush me to prison and hang me without giving me the
option to go for appeal. That was what happened.
“I
thank God Almighty everything that happened in Lagos State Court was compiled
and signed by all the 14 judges. We are putting it together. My father has
already put the book together in three volumes. You will see them soon.”
Al-Mustapha
said if he had been guilty of all allegations against him, his conscience would
not allow him to speak about what happened in the public.
“If
I am guilty, there is no way I can talk, there is no way I can get the
confidence to look into their eyes because they are the bigger ones above the
law in Nigeria. I am doing so. I have done it yesterday, I am doing it now and
I will to do it tomorrow. If I were dishonest, I couldn’t do that.
“That
is why the matter is before the Supreme Court now for appeal. We have been
begging them since 2013 for the matter to be heard so that everybody can hear
what happened. Up till now, the Lagos State Government ran away from it. We are
begging them to come to the matter. We have nothing to hide.”
Source:NAN
Tags
Politics