For the second time in less than one week, Justice Mojisola Dada of the Lagos High Court in Igbosere on Monday shielded the former Chief Security Officer (CSO) to the late Head of State, General Sani Abacha, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, from being cross-examined on a vital document in the trial.

However, she admitted the document and marked it “Exhibit D16”, but vehemently refused the prosecution, led by Mr. Lawal Pedro (SAN), from interrogating al-Mustapha based on the document.

The “Exhibit D16” is a Supreme Court judgement on a prima facie application filed by the first son of Abacha, Mohammed, against the state.

In the said judgement, the Supreme Court had copiously quoted Mohammed’s testimony where he said he was in al-Mustapha’s office when Bernabas Msheila alias Sgt Rogers entered and was shown two bags containing machine guns and that he (Rogers) was to be sent on an assignment.

Al-Mustapha is standing trial over his alleged complicity in the death of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, wife of the acclaimed winner of the June 1993 presidential election, Chief MKO Abiola.

Pedro had sought to tender the judgement as exhibit but the defence counsel, Mr. Olalekan Ojo, objected on the ground that it was not part of the proceedings of the court.

The defence argument was that since the statement was not made by the accused person, it should not be admitted.

He added that the judgement was totally irrelevant to the case and that pronouncements of the justices of the apex court could not be regarded as evidence in the case and that at no time was the accused person a party in the case.

In his argument, Pedro referred the court to section 200 of the Evidence Act which he said was of the effect that any document that would help a case was admissible.

He contended that since the document in question was a Supreme Court judgement and also a public document, it was important that it be admitted.

Ruling on the objection, Justice Dada held that all the arguments proffered against the admissibility of the document by Ojo were of no effect.

She noted that the document was relevant to the case in order to test the accuracy and veracity of the former CSO. 

She stated that al-Mustapha had under oath acknowledged in court that he knew Muhammed as the son of late Abacha and that they were initially charged together for the death of Kudirat Abiola.

The judge held that the judgement sought to be tendered was a public document and by the provisions of 112 of the Evidence Act, a Certified True Copy (CTC) of it was admissible in law.

Besides, Justice Dada held that all the arguments proffered against the admissibility of the document were of no moment.

“Ordinarily the court is bound to take judicial notice of the Judgement of the Supreme Court and act where it is appropriate. The objection is overruled. The Certified True Copy of the judgement of the Supreme Court delivered on July 11, 2002 and signed by Justice Alfa Belgore is admitted in evidence and marked exhibit D16,” she said.

On the argument by the defence counsel that the document did not form part of the proof of evidence in the case, the judge submitted that the prosecutor was not limited or restricted to the document annexed to the proof of evidence.

She further submitted that the court was not bound to take judicial notice of all Supreme Court judgements being the apex court in the land.

Soon after, the former CSO took the court on a long story of how he was tortured by the SIP all in an attempt to implicate him in the murder case.

He confessed that when Rogers saw the humiliation he suffered in the hands of SIP members, and because he did not want to suffer same, he gave in to copying the dictated statement of the SIP to implicate him in the murder of Kudirat.

“In the case of Rogers, dictations were done, I as his commander was beaten before him for not accepting to copy a dictation by the Special Investigation Panel (SIP). In the military profession, it is morally wrong and that is the worst thing you can do to a superior before his subordinate. I was humiliated before him and tortured severely and was made to copy while Rogers acts as superior to me.  That was the kind of confrontation I had with Rogers,” he said.

Also, al-Mustapha recounted how he was subjected to psychological torture when members of his immediate family were allegedly made to stand in the rain, adding that he had no choice but comply with the SIP’s directive in order to safe their life.

“Capacity to endure differs from person to person. For me, they brought my wife and father under rain and four children and rain will be beating them and bring me to see through a tiny window to see them. My brother, Haddy al-Mustapha, was arrested nine times.  

“If I am a man, I am to fight for them to have peace and I can sacrifice myself; I subjected myself. I can die for my parents, no two ways about that. I can die for them; it was part of my weakness,” he said.

“Major Ado was an infantry officer sent by the Nigerian Army to be a guard commander in the Presidency. I was a witness to torture brought upon him. What happened to him and I was unprintable. Office pin was used to torture us until it got broken, that officer was almost a mental person.  What they used to do was to reduce your hair where they were dropping the pin, and then be adding cold water in drops. It is better to put fire on you than to subject you to that in 30 minutes. I have not seen the endurance in a person who can take it for an hour.  That must be the reason why Major Ado went crazy,” he added.

But when the prosecution put it to him that that was how he tortured people as CSO to Abacha, he vehemently denied the claim.

He told the court that the only person he ever tortured was Lt. Ogboru, saying that he ordered him to be beaten publicly because he (Ogboru) was responsible for the killing of children in the Ojo Barracks where he gave heroin to military officers during the 1990 attempted coup plot.

He said if he had not ordered him to be whipped publicly, relations of those that died in the attempted coup would have lynched him.

-ThisDay

Posted by admin on Aug 17 2011. Filed under General Politics, National Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry