1. That Chief Moshood Kashimawo Oluwole Abiola was murdered by the Nigerian State and
2. That the his ethnic Yoruba people were complicit in his murder and/or the attempt at its cover up?
Icheoku says Nigerians should please not rush to throw away the baby with the bath water and instead actively investigate the allegation or rather confession of Major Hamza al - Mustapha. Major Mustapha was an insider in the government that detained Abiola and is possibly with real direct knowledge of the circumstances surrounding the death of Abiola. He was also part of the transition that saw the emergence of the succeeding government of Abubakar Abdulsalami and probably had an insight on what transpired, leading to Abiola's death and cannot possibly be bluffing with such a magnitude of heinous and grave allegation of accusing Abdulsalami with Abiola's murder.
Icheoku also heard that the true reason why Attorney General Bola Ige was assassinated was his quest to investigate the circumstances surrounding Abiola's death as well as other unsolved murders in Nigeria. So the question is are Nigerians going to dismiss Mustapha's allegation and sweep same under the carpet or are they going to demand that all that were complicit in his murder be brought to justice or better still demand to know why the man they elected president was so brutally killed in custody?
Icheoku says before Nigerians dismiss Major Hamza al-Mustapha's confessional on the murder of Chief MKO Abiola by the then Nigeria state as a none issue, they should first grasp the two major issues triggered by his confession and try investigating same:-
Summon Abubakar over Abiola’s death – Rights group
ReplyDeleteBy Jude Owuamanam, Jos
Saturday, 13 Aug 2011
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A human rights group, Christian Foundation for Social Justice and Equity, has asked security agencies to summon and interrogate a former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, over the revelations by a former Chief Security Officer, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha.
Al-Mustapha, who worked with the late head of state, Gen. Sani Abacha, is standing trial at a Lagos High Court for the alleged killing of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, the wife of the acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, Chief MKO Abiola.
He was quoted to have said that the former head of state was privy to the death of Abiola.
Mustapha had alleged during his evidence-in-chief that a former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, the late Chief Bola Ige (SAN), and other Yoruba leaders were unconsciously used in the murder of Abiola.
The executive chairman of the group, Mr. Joseph Sangosanya, told SATURDAY PUNCH in an interview in Jos on Thursday, that it was only Abubakar that could clear the haze over Abiola’s death.
He said, “Al-Mustapha’s testimonies raised some potent questions on Abiola’s death. Who murdered Abiola? Why did Abubakar refuse to release Abiola after Abacha’s demise until Abiola was poisoned in front of the then head of state?
“What did Abubakar use the huge cash requested from the CBN for? Who were Abiola’s betrayers? Has the video recording shown not edited to suit Al-Mustapha’s case? Is Al-Mustapha not trying to divert our attention from the case he is standing trial for? Until these questions are answered, we may not get to the root of Abiola’s death or the pro-democracy activists killed by Sani Abacha.”
Sangosanya said that Al-Mustapha’s grandstanding before the judge should be thoroughly investigated so as to know the truth about the events surrounding the June 12, 1993 presidential election, which was won by Abiola, but annulled by the junta led by Ibrahim Babangida.
He said that while not justifying the long detention of Mustapha without bail or conviction, the situation had put a question mark on the country’s judicial system.
“Although the allegations raised are not wholly new as some people had earlier believed that there were some compromises before and after Abiola’s death by some leaders, including Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba, who never wanted an Abiola presidency, the holier-than-thou and hypocritical attitude of the ex-CSO is quite unfortunate.
“Where were Mustapha and his family when Abiola was under hell during his incarceration? Who ordered Col. Omenka to torture and torment NADECO members and the known supporters of the revalidation of the June 12 mandate? Who ordered the closure of Abiola’s businesses? On whose instructions were the then Abacha killer squads operating? Where was he when Abiola was murdered?” he queried