Death sentence: Court fails to rule on Al-Mustapha’s appeal

[PeoplesDaily]

From Matthew Irinoye, Lagos

The Court of Appeal sitting in Igbosere, presided over by Justice Amina Augie yesterday reserved judgment in an appeal filed by Major Hamza Al Mustapha and Lateef Shofolahan, challenging a death sentence handed them by a Lagos High Court. Al-Mustapha, former Chief Security Officer to late General Sanni Abacha, and Shofolahan former Personal Assistant to Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, were sentenced to death on January 30, 2012, by Justice Mojisola Dada.

The judge convicted and sentenced them on grounds of conspiracy in master minding the murder of late Kudirat Abiola.

During the proceedings, Al-mustapha's lawyer, Joseph Daudu (SAN), while adopting his address, prayed the court to allow the appeal and set aside the judgment of the Lagos High Court which convicted his client.

The senior lawyer also insisted that the trial judge erred in law when she hinged her judgement on the testimonies of Sergeant Banabas Msheila (Rogers) and Mohammed Abdul (Katako) which were contradictory.

According to Daudu (SAN), "the testimonies of PW1 and 2 were inconclusive and contradictory. The court drew inferences from these contradictory statements, to establish the guilty of the Appellants.

"It is my submission that those inferences upon which the court based its judgment, are merely political evidence formulated by the respondent, and which the trial court ought not to have considered.

"I therefore urge the court to allow this appeal, and quash the judgment of the lower court."

Olalekan Ojo, counsel to Alhaji Shofolahan aligned himself to the submission of Daudu (SAN).

However, lawyer to the Lagos State government, Lawal Pedro (SAN) on his part charged the appellate court to dismiss the appeal and uphold the judgment of the lower court.

The prosecution lawyer also maintained that apart from the evidences of Rogers and Katako, there were other evidence from the defendants themselves, which supports the counts of conspiracy and murder.

Pedro,prayed the court to dismiss the appeal for lack of merit.

It would be recalled that the convicts were arraigned in October 1999 on a four-count charge bordering on conspiracy and their involvement in the 1996 Murder of the deceased, along the Lagos/Ibadan expressway.

Justice Mojisola Dada had found them guilty of the offence, and accordingly convicted and sentenced them to death by hanging.

Counsel to the appellants had however, appealed to the court of appeal, 24-hours after the sentence of the convicts challenging the judgment.

In the notice of appeal, the appellants contends that the death sentence handed by the lower court was unwarranted, unreasonable and a manifest miscarriage of justice.

They contend that the trial judge erred in law by arriving at the conclusion that they conspired to kill Alhaja Kudirat on June 4, 1996.

The appellants faulted the Judge's treatment of the contradictory statements of Barnabas Jabila (a.k.a Sgt. Rogers) and Mohmamed Abdul.

They also faulted the court's reliance on the testimony of Dr. Ore Falomo on the bullet extracted from late Kudirat.

According to the appellants, the court's rejection of portions of Jabila's testimony which favored them and applying only areas which did not favor them, was a gross miscarriage of justice.

The appellants are therefore praying the Court of Appeal to entertain the appeal, set aside the judgment, and discharge them of the charges of conspiracy and murder.

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