Various reactions have continued to trail the Al-Mustapha trial which has resurrected the passion and grief of many Nigerians over the June 12 incident of 1993 and the death of Chief MKO Abiola.
Chief Olu Falae, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation and ex Minister of Finance, was a major contender for Nigeria’s presidency in 1999 speaking on the Al-Mustapha issue said
“What he had just done was trying to maximize confusion around his case. Anybody who knew Papa Adesanya and Chief Bola Ige would know that there was no way they would accept anything from the government so as to, as it were, abandon the struggle. They were for about four months in police cell in Ikoyi, Lagos at the beginning of the struggle and I was visiting them regularly. At their ages! They were humiliated! They were sleeping in police cell! And these were men, who throughout their lives, were of high integrity.”
While General Ibrahim Babangida speaking on the issue of the Al-Mustapha case, the Former military Head Of State suddenly turned into a human right activist saying that he believes Al-Mustapha should be freed considering the duration of his trial
“My considerations are the length of time he spent in confinement. Suppose at the end of the day he is not found guilty? How do you compensate a young man who has spent 14 years of his life undergoing trial? Nobody even knows when the case will finish. He should be freed,” he said
Meanwhile besides the Arewa Youth conference that also opines that Al-Mustapha should be freed and that Abubakar should speak up, 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.
The Executive Chairman of the group 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.”
