LAGOS TAKES AL-MUSTAPHA TO COURT AGAIN

Lagos Drags Al-Mustapha Before The Supreme Court Over Kudirat Abiola’s Murder

Al-Mustapha

The Lagos State Government has approached the Supreme Court to challenge a decision of the Court of Appeal that discharged and acquitted the former Chief Security Officer (CSO) to the late Head of State, General Sani Abacha, Major Hamza Mustapha and Mr. Lateef Shofolahan, for complicity in the murder of Mrs. Kudirat Abiola.

Addressing a news conference, yesterday, at the state secretariat, Alausa, state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Adeola Ipaye, disclosed the move to challenge the judgment of the appellate court.
Ipaye said the state government formally filed the appeal at the apex court on Monday, against the judgment delivered at the appellate court.
The attorney-general confirmed that the state Ministry of Justice “has filed appeal papers against the judgments delivered by the Court of Appeal in the cases of Lateef Shofolahan vs. the State and Al-Mustapha vs. State.
According to him, the government had indeed studied the two judgments delivered by the appellate court very closely and concluded that there were grounds for appeal, which made the government “to formally file the appeal at the apex court on Monday.

“Having fully reviewed the decisions of the respected justices of the appellate court, it is our humble view that there are strong bases for appeal which the Supreme Court should have an opportunity to consider.
“The step, the government, was taken will also ensure that all issues were fully articulated and that the victim’s family, the defendants and the society were not deprived of the last window of opportunity provided by the constitution for the resolution of the case.”
The attorney-general explained that the state government was committed “to ensuring that law abiding residents and visitors continued to live, work and pursue their various aspirations in a safe and secured environment.”
Al-Mustapha and Shofolahan, a former protocol officer to Chief MKO Abiola, were last month set free by the Court of Appeal, after Justice Mojisola Dada of the Lagos High Court sentenced them to death in connection with the murder of Kudirat.