The children of pro-democracy campaigner, late Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, have maintained that their mother was assassinated on the orders of Major Hamza Al-Mustapha.
Major Al-Mustapha, the former Chief Security Officer (CSO) to the late Head of State, General Sani Abacha, is the presidential candidate of the Action Alliance (AA) in respect of the 2023 general elections.
A news report had said that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo coerced Barnabas Jabila, otherwise known as Sergent Rogers, the notorious hitman of late Abacha, to finger him in the murder case.
But in a statement released on Tuesday, the late Kudirat children insisted that the AA presidential flag-bearer was responsible for their mother’s murder.
“Our attention has been drawn to a recent statement made by Major Hamza Al-Mustapha. In it, he accused the current Vice-President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo (SAN) of instigating Sergeant Rogers to falsely claim that he, Al-Mustapha, was behind the assassination of our mother, Alhaja Kudirat Abiola.
“First of all, we all watched the proceedings of the Oputa Panel where Sergeant Rogers freely stated that he assassinated our mother and attempted to murder Senator Abraham Adesanya and Chief Alex Ibru, late Publisher of The Guardian newspaper, based on the instructions given to him by Major Al-Mustapha.
“The evidence of Sergeant Rogers was not challenged by Al-Mustapha and his lawyers at the Oputa Panel.
“Second, the Lagos High Court convicted and sentenced the armed agents of Al-Mustapha to imprisonment for the attempted murder of Senator Abraham Adesanya.
“Third, the Lagos State High Court also convicted and sentenced Al-Mustapha and his accomplices to death for the cold-blooded murder of our mother.
“Their subsequent acquittal by the Court of Appeal was most likely politically-motivated.
“The appeal filed against the judgment is currently pending at the Supreme Court.
“However, Al-Mustapha may be counting on the pervasive culture of impunity in Nigeria to not only attempt to deny his dastardly role in the assassination of a defenceless woman, but to also now contemplate running for office, along with Mohammed Abacha, who was alleged to have provided his driver to convey the assassins to carry out the mission.
“Impunity lays waste to the promise of the democracy for which our dear mother paid the ultimate price.
“As those that oversaw her assassination now seek to rewrite the history of what they did, we are forced to seek justice for our beloved mother within a jurisdiction not susceptible to the political games that hold sway in Nigeria,” the statement by Khafila Abiola on behalf of Kudirat’s children, read.
