STAR CASEFILE: Part I of Mohammed Abacha, Mustapha & Co In the Dock
Mobolaji E. Aluko
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TODAY NEWSPAPER: OCTOBER 10-16, 1999
LEAD STORY
Political assassinations drama: Government raids suspected assassins
SOME senior security functionaries, including former military
administrators, of the Abacha regime have been held for alleged
assassinations.
Those being held for questioning are former national security adviser,
Alhaji Isma’ila Gwarzo, Lt.-Col. Ibrahim Idris Yakasai; Major Hamza
Al-Mustapha; chief security officer of General Abacha; Sergeant Mshelia
Rogers; some former military administrators and Mohammed, Abacha’s eldest
son.
Reliable sources said their arrests are in connection with the spate of
political murders during the reign of Abacha.
Some of those murdered by the suspected state-sponsored killers were Chief
Alfred Rewane, tycoon businessman and politician; Alhaja Kudirat Abiola,
wife of Chief Moshood K.O. Abiola (who died in detention for declaring
himself president); Rear Admiral Michael Omotehinwa, a retired naval
officer; James Bagauda Kaltho, a journalist; Mr. Onagoruwa, son of the
former attorney-general of the federation, Dr. Olu Onagoruwa and others.
The publisher of The Guardian newspapers, Mr. Alex Ibru, survived
attempted assassination during the spate of political murders alleged to
have been masterminded and executed by those being held.
There are other military and police officers also among those being held
by the police for political murders. A senior police officer in Jos got a
signal to report to Abuja for discussion only to be arrested on arrival.
While terror reigned then, the security functionaries now being held never
knew that the State Security Services (SSS) and the police intelligence
branch secretly monitored their activities and discreetly recorded them
down for the rainy day, confidentially with the approval of their bosses.
Today can reveal that the SSS wiretapped a top security functionary as he
gave orders on telephone that a major opposition leader should be killed.
He was quoted to have said: "Kill him".
The police bugged the telephones of some of the security officers now
being held and tailed them while they illegally operated their
extra-judicial killings.
All the attempts by the police to bring them to justice earlier were
thwarted by orders from the presidency then to stop investigations.
But such orders did not stop the SSS and the police from professionally
and secretly keeping record of those activities for the future.
Sources said that the police were eager to start prosecution after the
death of General Sani Abacha but were hindered by the executive
lukewarmness of the former head of state, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, on
the matter.
The Abacha regime was said to have created a special death squad that
operated outside the normal intelligence family. Its main duties were to
liquidate opponents of the regime physically. Mohammed Abacha is said to
have allegedly been very overzealous about the activities of the squad in
which case he was allegedly accessory after the fact, according to a
reliable source.
Top security sources said the net might catch other people not suspected
to be actors but who were privy to all the plots to liquidate political
opponents.
Mohammed Abacha is being held with others at the Force CID headquarters,
Abuja, where all the suspects are being kept. His mother, Mrs. Maryam
Abacha, was not allowed access to him when she visited Abuja this week.
Devastated Maryam Abacha is said to be going through worse days than she
experienced after the death of her husband.
Compounded by the investigation into money allegedly stolen from the
treasury by her husband, the development of murder allegation against her
son has torn the family to tatters.
The Abacha regime’s special death squad called "Strike Force", reportedly
trained in Libya and North Korea. While it existed, it answered directly
to the presidency. Those in the force were picked from the military and
the mobile police.
The new arrests have been accelerated by the revelations in petitions
believed to have been sent to the Justice Oputa panel on human rights
violations and the police and SSS insistence on positive action.
One of such petitions was by a former coup convict and Second-in-Command
to Abacha, Lt.-General Donaldson Oladipo Diya, who alleged that Mustapha,
Omenka and Mohammed tortured him when he was arrested.
A former attorney general of the federation and minister of justice, Dr.
Olu Onagoruwa, also petitioned the authorities earlier that his son,
Toyin, a lawyer was murdered by the same death squad when the killers
could not find him (Olu). Onagoruwa became the opponent of that regime
when he left office as minister in protest against a decree to which he
was not a party. He raised dust that it was invalid and lost his job.
The presidency is also said to be aware of the arrests and the details of
the operations of that squad.
A close source said those officers and men of that Strike Force were about
a battalion but were spread to all the formations of the Army, Navy and
the Air Force.
They were said to have been highly trained not only in unarmed combat but
also in such martial arts of silent liquidation of targets.
Their existence then angered some middle-ranked operatives of the
Directorate of Military Intelligence, the SSS and the police who lay low
and planned how to neutralize them.
Whatever must have happened to Abacha, which is still a puzzle, it was
known that he had lost control of the professional armed services before
his bell tolled.
One of the significant trademarks of members of the Strike Force was they
wore dark goggles. They also rode in cars with tinted glasses, haughtily
throwing their weight all over Abuja, the capital territory. Perhaps, the
massive arrests of these angels of death are not unconnected with
tightened security in Abuja.
State House Villa, the seat of power, saw extreme tightened security last
week. Cars bound for the Villa were thoroughly searched for arms and
operatives, used bomb detectors to screen persons and objects.
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ABUJA, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Security aides and a son of late Nigerian dictator
Sani Abacha are to be charged this week for alleged crimes committed when he
was in power, the presidency said on Sunday.
President Olusegun Obasanjo's spokesman Doyin Okupe said Mohammed Abacha,
Hamza Al-Mustapha, former head of the dictator's personal security and
several others would be charged with as yet unspecified crimes.
``They will be formally charged in court in Lagos on Wednesday or Thursday
this week,'' Okupe said in the statement, adding that investigations had been
concluded.
Obasanjo said last week the younger Abacha was being held for ``a heinous
crime'' committed while his father was in power. Investigators had previously
questioned him over missing state funds, but he was not charged.
Local newspapers quoting police sources said the suspects currently in
detention were going to be charged in connection with the murder of some of
Abacha's political opponents.
Obasanjo took office as elected president on May 29 to end more than 15 years
of military rule in Africa's most populous country after the death of General
Abacha last year made democratic reforms possible.
A former military ruler in the 1970s, Obasanjo was among hundreds of people
jailed by Abacha but freed on his death by his successor General Abdulsalami
Abubakar.
Abubakar's government said more than $1 billion in illegally acquired wealth
was recovered from the family and aides of Abacha. Obasanjo has continued
efforts to recover missing state funds said to be kept in foreign bank
accounts.
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Vanguard: Newsreel
Abacha's son, Mustapha, 'Rogers' in Lagos court today ...May be tried
under Section 316 of Criminal Code
IF the Chief Security Officer (CSO) to the late General Sani Abacha,
Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, eldest son of the late head of state,
Mohammed and security guard Sgt. Rogers Msheila are charged with
murder in Lagos today they are likely to be tried under Section 316 of
the criminal code law of Lagos State.
Section 316 says "A person who unlawfully kills another under any of
the following circumstances i.e. to say (I) if the offender intends to
cause the death of the person killed, or that of some other persons.
(ii) If the offender intends to do to the person killed or some
other persons some grievous harm.
(iii) If the death is caused by means of an act done in the
prosecution of an unlawful purpose which act is of such
nature as to be likely to endanger human life.
(iv) If the offender intends to do grievous harm to some
persons but the purpose of facilitating the commission of an
offence which is such that such an offender may be arrested
without warrant, or for the purpose of facilitating the
flight of an offender who has committed or attempted to
commit such an offence.
(v) If death is caused by administering any stupifying or any
overpowering thing for either of the purposes last aforesaid.
(vi) If death is caused by willfully stopping the breath of any person
for either of such purposes is guilty of murder.
In the second case it is immaterial that the offender did not intend
to hurt the particular person killed.
In the third case it is immaterial that the offender did not intend to
hurt anybody. In the last three cases it is immaterial that the
offender did not intend to cause death or did not know that death was
likely to result.
Section 319 (1) says anybody that commits such offence faces death
penalty.
Vanguard Transmitted Wednesday, 13 October, 1999
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Vanguard: Newsreel
Mustapha, others' trial: Security beefed up in Lagos
By Jide Ajani, Deputy Political Editor
IN preparation for today's landmark trial of Major Hamza Al-Mustapha,
Sergeant Barnabas Mshelia (alias Sgt. Rogers) and Mohammed Abacha,
security within and around Lagos metropolis has been beefed up. It was
however unclear whether the security measure was an interim measure
for the safety of President Olusegun Obasanjo who visited Lagos
yesterday.
Sources however said the beefing up of security comes against the
backdrop of fears that members of the Oodua Peoples Congress, OPC, and
other sympathisers of the June 12 crusade may likely vent their wrath
on the three accused persons who are standing trial for their roles
and alleged complicity in the murder of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, wife of
the late acclaimed winner of the June 12 presidential elections,
Bashorun M.K.O. Abiola.
The presidential wing of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport,
for instance, yesterday had a very heavy presence of men and officers
of the Nigeria police, most of whom were equally heavily armed.
All through the stretch of the Airport Road to Mafoluku junction,
there were about four different police stop points. The same police
presence was visible at the Awolowo end roundabout on Kingsway road.
The build up to today's case has been laced with a lot of moral
suasion, sentiments, emotions, fears, and legal fireworks.
For instance, the upbeat mood of the nation, particularly residents of
Lagos where the trial would take place, is influenced and further
sustained by the fact that this is the first time criminal activities
of members of a past government are being subjected to court
processes.
It also grants government high moral values, as it presents the
President Olusegun Obasanjo administration as one with serious
commitment to and high interest in the cause of justice and fairness.
Since the arrest of the trio during the tenure of the General
Abdulsalami Abubakar government, there had been series of calls for
their release as their continued detention constituted a gross
violation of their human rights.
Government had always responded by saying that investigations into the
activities of the men were still being investigated.
In fact, Doyin Okupe, presidential assistant on media and publicity,
hinted this last week when he told State House correspondents in Abuja
that the delay in their trial was due to the need to thoroughly
investigate the activities of the men as well as having enough
evidence to ensure a neat prosecution.
On Monday, October 11, 1999, lawyers to Major Mustapha, Clement
Akpamgbo and Anobi Nzelu, protested to the Inspector General of
Police, insisting that their client's life would not be safe in the
event that he is tried in Lagos, or any of the South Western states. A
trial in a neutral state was sought.
A motion for the enforcement of Mustapha's fundamental rights is
expected to be moved by his lawyers in Abuja today.
Vanguard Transmitted Wednesday, 13 October, 1999
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Vanguard: 3rd Lead
The Abacha men who will face trial today
By Lanre Arogundade
EVEN before it opens, the trial of Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, Sergeant
Barnabas Mshelia, a.k.a. Sgt. Rogers and Muhammed Abacha, son of late
Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha is already being dubbed the trial of
the century.
When the three men are formally charged with the murder of Kudirat
Abiola, wife of the winner of the June 12, 1993 election as well as
the assassination or attempted assassination of several others, what
will simultaneously open is an epic chapter in the nation's history.
And as this century paves the way for the twenty-first, it is truly,
as it has been dubbed, the trial of the century.
Below is an insight into the three men who will be standing trial.
MAJOR HAMZA AL-MUSTAPHA
Until the military authorities release more of Major Al-Mustapha's
bio-data, the little that is known of his background is that he hails
form Nguru, Yobe State and was a relatively unknown intelligence
officer until his appointment as the Chief Security Officer (CSO) to
the late of Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, shot him into limelight.
His recent ordeal has also shown that he is married. His wife
reportedly approached the legal firm of Chief Gani Fawehinmi & Co. to
take up the legal campaign for his release from dungeon. It was a
move, though later denied by the family, which the Nobel Laureate,
Prof. Wole Soyinka described as a classic irony.
After his remarkable tenure as CSO, Al-Mustapha was redeployed to
Enugu as an intelligence officer with the Nigerian Army's 82nd
Division. From there he was arrested and detained.
What has, however, haunted Al-Mustapha to the courtroom are his
alleged deeds while he presided over Abacha's Aso Rock security
outfit. For Nigerians, who before the coming of Abacha, were used to
Aide De Camps (ADCs), it was Maj. Al-Mustapha who both popularised and
made notorious the office of the CSO. No other previous holder of that
office was as powerful or controversial as the major from Nguru.
Shakespeare's famous warning about there being no art to know the
mind's construction on the face possibly applies in the case of
Al-Mustapha. Either in uniform or out of it, his boyish face gives him
away as a gentleman who probably would not hurt a fly. Before the
famous Abacha two-million-man-march in Abuja, the combative section of
the press, especially the magazines, had already listed several woes
allegedly perpetrated by Al-Mustapha. But when he appeared at the show
believed to be his handiwork, he didn't act like Saddam Hussein of
Iraq, would on such an occasion of "joy"-pull out a pistol and release
bullets into the sky. No. Appearing in native attire, he looked at the
crowd and took some dance steps. Yes, Al-Mustapha danced on that
occasion.
Today, however, he will begin to dance to the music of the law since
it has been alleged that the worst of atrocities including
assassinations perpetrated under and in the name of Abacha were
ordered by him.
Al-Mustapha, it has been widely reported, had all he needed to
accomplish his tasks. Name it: unshaken confidence of his late boss,
limitless funding, a strike force, a killer squad, well-stocked
arsenal and the fear of his subordinates and his superiors.
What Al-Mustapha was to Abacha, Lavrenti Beria was to late Soviet
dictator, Josef Stalin. Al-Mustapha accomplished all tasks for his
boss. But on June 8, 1998, he failed miserably, he could not stop the
cold hands of death from snatching Abacha. That divine intervention as
it is famously referred to, has made a lot of difference in many
people's life. Certainly, including that of Al-Mustapha. At the end of
the trial it would be known if he merely played the role of an
obedient loyalist or acted largely according to his own instincts.
SERGEANT-GENERAL ROGERS
In the military hierarchy, there is no rank known as Sergeant-General.
What you have are Brigadier-General, Major General, and Lieutenant
General. Yet if the powers wielded by Barnabas Mshiela, a.k.a Rogers,
are to be appropriately captured, perhaps it makes sense to refer to
him simply as Sergeant General Rogers.
While the rule of General Sani Abacha lasted, the bearded tough
looking man was indeed referred to as General Rogers, which was
something symbolic, for even his boss, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha from
whom he reportedly took orders, was never accorded the honorary title
of General.
The answer to the puzzle perhaps lies in the role he was alleged to
have played in the assassinations carried out under General Abacha's
iron-fist rule and for which he would begin to face trial today.
Tell magazine, had in its July 19 edition opened the General Rogers'
pandora box with its cover story: The man who killed for Abacha. Among
others he was alleged to be the leader of the K-squad, said to be
notorious and responsible for the killing of Kudirat Abiola, who the
late General Abacha detested for boldly campaigning for the validation
of the June 12, 1993 election, even after the acclaimed winner had
been incarcerated.
Whether he was personally involved or not, other killings including
that of Chief Alfred Rewane, have been allegedly linked to General
Rogers' gang. Recent reports have it that he had allegedly confessed
to some of the killings saying for example that he got just N50,000
for killing Kudirat.
Whatever he did or did not do, past speculations will as from this
moment give way to factual revelation in the courtroom.
MOHAMMED ABACHA
That Mohammed Abacha was deeply involved in he politics of his late
father's rule and attempt to perpetuate himself in office is not news
to Nigerians. It is also not news that while his late father virtually
locked himself up inside Aso Rock it was Mohammed who supervised the
family's vast business interests, especially after the death of his
elder brother, Ibrahim Abacha.
Mohammed has been named in several cases of alleged outright looting
of the nation's treasury by his late father and living mother, Maryam
Abacha. What will, therefore, come as a surprise is that beginning
from today, he will be facing trial for allegedly being part of the
machinery that caused the death of the late Kudirat Abiola and some
others.
This development will certainly be shattering for a family that lost
the breadwinner and heir apparent one after the other. Mohammed's
ordeal is said to have particularly devastated Maryam Abacha, the
erstwhile all-powerful first lady.
As for family background, the much that is known of Mohammed apart
from being the Abachas' second son is that he attended the Nigeria
Military School, Zaria and later the Nigeria Defence Academy. He
didn't graduate from the latter but studied law at the University of
Maiduguri.
What is now being revealed is that Mohammed never practised law but
engaged himself, when he was not into business transactions, in meting
brutalities on his father's perceived opponents or enemies.
The facts began to emerge when shortly after his father's demise, the
prison gates were flung open to allow several political detainees and
those framed up in phantom coups, breathe the air of freedom.
Once they stepped out, they started narrating the accounts of their
ordeal, which implicated Mohammed Abacha. Professor Femi Odekunle,
special adviser to General Oladipo Diya, former Chief of General Staff
and one of those detained over the phantom coup plot of 1997, has
reportedly petitioned the Justice Oputa panel over abuses inflicted on
him by Mohammed. He was once quoted as saying: "This may shock you.
The son of General Mohammed, was the one applying electric torture
prod on me. I have about six witnesses to bear me out on this. I would
not understand why I was specially tortured by Mustapha, Mohammed and
his boys." Olu Akerele, late Bashorun Abiola's corporate affairs
assistant also testified that on one occasion during his interrogation
by Abacha's strike force, he was repeatedly kicked in the groin by
Mohammed.
Well, Mohammed too has now tasted life in detention. But facing trial
for alleged murder is another thing entirely. Will son pay for his own
or his father's alleged sins?
Vanguard Transmitted Wednesday, 13 October, 1999
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Vanguard: Lead Story
DMI, SSS chiefs arrested over Abacha's son lSuspects arrive Lagos
By Rotimi Ajayi & John-Abba Ogbodo, Abuja
TWO security chiefs have been arrested in Abuja for allegedly trying
to manipulate the investigation of Mohammed Abacha, eldest son of the
late Head of State, in his favour.
Mohammed, Chief Security Officer to his father, Maj. Hamza
Al-Mustapha, and a security guard in the Presidency, Sgt. Rogers
Mshelia, are expected to appear in a Lagos court today on alleged
murder charges.
The suspects were airlifted to Lagos yesterday even as the Special
Adviser on Media Affairs to the President, Dr. Doyin Okupe dismissed
as mischievous claims by Mustapha's lawyers that he would be unsafe in
Lagos.
Arrested along with the security chief was a journalist, according to
sources yesterday in Abuja.
One of the security chiefs was said to be working in the National
Intelligence Agency (NIA), while the other works in the Directorate of
Military Intelligence (DMI).
The men, according to sources, were originally assigned the
responsibility of investigating Mohammed's involvement in certain
matters, but along the line began to manipulate the investigation in
his (Mohammed's) favour.
The investigation was later transferred to the Kano State office of
the State Security Service (SSS), where they allegedly bribed officers
handling the matter.
But the lid was blown off their deal when security agents strayed into
telephone conversations between them (the duo) and Mohammed's mother,
Maryam.
Agents are already on the trail of the SSS men involved.
However, the venue of the trial of Mohammed, Mustapha and Mshelia
remained unknown last night.
Neither the police nor federal officials were willing to volunteer
information on the trial, which has remained the main topic of
discussion all over the country since Sunday when the Presidency
announced that they would be arraigned today or tomorrow.
Some officials simply said they knew nothing about arrangement for the
trial.
Sources in Abuja said last night that the suspects left the Abuja
airport in a presidential jet for Lagos last night.
They were moved to the airport about 6.30 p.m. in a Black Maria marked
NPF 509 B.
A large crowd including relations and friends of the suspects had
gathered at the airport to catch their glimpse.
But many of them had to leave at about 5.00 p.m. when the suspects
were no where in sight.
A minor scuffle even ensued between two groups of those at the airport
over whether it was right to incarcerate Mustapha.
They were dispersed by airport security men.
Security at the Force Headquarters from where the men were transferred
to the airport was watertight.
* Okupe takes on Mustapha's lawyers
And reacting, yesterday, to claims by Mustapha's lawyers that he would
be unsafe in Lagos, Dr. Okupe said it was all a "mischievous device"
to distract attention.
Dr. Okupe, who spoke to newsmen in Ikenne, Ogun State, during
President Olusegun Obasanjo's private visit to Chief (Mrs.) H.I.D.
Awolowo, said government was determined to do what it had to do
irrespective of what anybody claimed.
According to him, the trial of the former Chief Security Officer (CSO)
will take place in Lagos and no where else.
He said: "Government must do what it has to do no matter what Maj.
Mustapha's lawyers are saying. The case will be heard in Lagos; I have
even heard about security problem. I mean it's not just Mustapha,
anybody under custody is under the protective custody of government.
"Government will not allow either the O'odua Peoples Congress (OPC) or
anybody to attack or harm somebody that is under its custody, it will
not happen. So the issue of whether somebody is going to attack
somebody is a mischievous device to distract attention."
Dr. Okupe stressed further that government had enough machinery and
power to protect Maj. Mustapha and others.
"Even when you are in prison, you are still under a protective
custody. So, the issue of insecurity does not really arise," he added.
Asked whether the former CSO was being arraigned for the murder of
Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, Dr. Okupe retorted: "There are so many other
cases that have taken place. Kudirat is there, Rewane is there and so
many others, and this is why it has taken so long to conclude
investigation. So, I cannot tell you specifically which case will be
cited in court on Wednesday or Thursday."
Mustapha's lawyers in a letter to the Inspector General of Police had
called for a "neutral" ground for his trial because as they said Lagos
or any state in the Southwest was unsafe.
Vanguard Transmitted Wednesday, 13 October, 1999
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