Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Gabriel Osa
Abuja — Nigeria’s Supreme Court has formally dismissed the trial of Major Hamza Al‑Mustapha (retd) — the former Chief Security Officer (CSO) to the late military head of state General Sani Abacha — in connection with the murder of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, a prominent political activist and wife of the acclaimed winner of the annulled June 12, 1993 presidential election. The apex court’s decision effectively ends nearly three decades of legal proceedings in one of Nigeria’s most high‑profile criminal cases.
Kudirat Abiola, wife of businessman and political figure Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola, was killed in Lagos on June 4, 1996, during nationwide unrest that followed the annulment of the 1993 election and her continued calls for the restoration of the democratic mandate. She became a symbol of resistance against military rule and was widely mourned across the country. Al‑Mustapha, alongside others, was charged by the Lagos State Government with conspiracy and murder, though the case has been fraught with legal twists and prolonged delays.
At a hearing on January 22, 2026, a five‑member panel of Supreme Court justices, led by Justice Uwani Aba‑Aji, ruled that the Lagos State Government had effectively abandoned the prosecution. The court noted that although it had granted the state permission in 2014 to re‑open the matter and pursue an appeal against an earlier acquittal, there had been no substantive legal action taken by the state in the more than nine years since that order was issued.
During the proceedings, senior counsel for Al‑Mustapha informed the court that the state government failed to file a notice of appeal, did not present a brief of appeal, and was not represented in court despite being served with hearing notices over the years. The court found it unacceptable that Lagos State had neither complied with the extended deadline nor explained its prolonged absence and inactivity in the matter.
In a unanimous ruling, the justices agreed that the state’s continued inaction demonstrated a loss of interest in pursuing the case, and that conditions pointed to abandonment of the prosecution. Justice Aba‑Aji observed that nine years was more than sufficient time for the Lagos Government to prosecute its appeal, and the absence of any judicial steps toward that end justified dismissal. The apex court dismissed both the main appeal and an ancillary matter related to the same case, bringing the matter to a definitive close.
The background to the case stretches back to January 30, 2012, when a Lagos High Court convicted Major Al‑Mustapha and others of Kudirat Abiola’s murder and sentenced them to death by hanging. That decision was overturned by the Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal on July 12, 2013, which acquitted the accused on the grounds that the evidence presented was insufficient to support the conviction. The Lagos State Government then sought to challenge the appeal court’s ruling, a legal effort that ultimately led to the Supreme Court’s 2014 order permitting a late appeal process.
The Supreme Court’s dismissal marks the end of the judicial pursuit in this long‑running case, which has occupied courtrooms for more than three decades and remained a subject of national debate over justice, accountability and the rule of law. The judgment underscores the principle that prolonged inaction and failure to pursue available legal remedies can extinguish a party’s interest in litigation, even in cases of significant public interest.
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