Nigeria’s human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Femi Falana has vowed to sue a former Chief Security Officer to Ex-Head of State, General Sani Abacha, Hamza Al-Mustapha for allegedly making inciting and defamatory comments over the death of Chief MKO Abiola and the June 12 incident.
Al-Mustapha, in a television interview, People, Politics and Power had stated that some leaders of the defunct National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) went to the Presidential Villa to collect millions of dollars, barely 24 hours after Abiola’s death.
“If Abiola was alive, he would have been one of my witnesses which I know wouldn’t have happened, we should be looking at the larger issues. The question is why should Abiola be killed and why should they be angry that I’m asking these questions?
“Falana is making a mistake. General Abacha served in many formations in Yoruba land and he had many Yoruba friends, including traditional rulers. He served as General Officer Commanding, Ibadan. He served as Chief of Army Staff all in Lagos and the Chief of Defence Staff.
“And so for Falana to come to TV and be talking, many of them are just keeping quiet for him. The question is; who is paying Falana to do this? The late MKO Abiola was killed on July 8. Money was shared, withdrawn from the Central Bank of Nigeria on the 9th. Money was brought in dollars, pounds and naira.”
However, Falana in reaction said that Al-Mustapha is peddling lies and saying things he never said when Falana was cross-examining him during his trial.
He vowed to sue Al-Mustapha for defamation and twisted stance on the June 12 saga and the death of Abiola.
“I am taking him to court. I represented the Abiola family, Ransome-Kuti family and many other victims of human rights abuse under successive military regimes. I cross-examined this guy (Al-Mustapha) over the killing of M.K.O. and his wife. He never linked me with this rubbish.
“I wrote a petition and gave evidence over the abuse meted out to me. When Al-Mustapha accused Chief (Bola) Ige and Chief (Ayo) Adesanya of collecting bribe after the killing of Abiola, I asked the public to disregard his tissue of lies.
“When he was discharged and acquitted by the Court of Appeal, I criticised the judgment. He has suddenly woken up to link me with collecting bribe as a NADECO member. You know I was never in NADECO.”
