TELL IT

Al-Mustapha, Shofolahan acquittal: Proof beyond reasonable doubt is standard requirement in  criminal case, says lawyer By Emmanuel Edukugho WHEN the Court of Appeal overturned the death sentence passed on Major Hamza Al-Mustapha and Alhaji Lateef Shofolahan, setting two of them free, the nation was gripped by shock and disbelief. Mixed reactions from a cross section of Nigerians spanning all walks of life poured in. Even the Clergy, Christian and Islamic; civil society groups and the political class were not left out. Freedom came to Al-Mustapha after almost 15 years of being incarcerated   when many people had lost hope, believing that sooner or later, he and Lateef Shofolahan would be facing the hangman . [caption id="attachment_404808" align="alignleft" width="250"] Aminah ...I am surprised and bewildered at the judgement[/caption] The duo were condemned to death by hanging on January 30, 2012 by Justice Mojisola Dada of the Lagos High Court in Igbose...

Lagos -  Maj. Hamza Al-Mustapha was on Friday released from  the Kirikiri Maximum Prisons, Lagos, following his discharge and acquittal of a murder charge by the Court of Appeal . The appellate court sitting in Lagos upturned a death sentence earlier passed on Al-Mustapha and Alhaji Lateef Sofolahan, an aide to the late Kudirat Abiola. [caption id="attachment_403580" align="alignnone" width="412"] Major Hamza Al-Mustapha leaving the Court in Lagos on Tuesday (9/8/11).[/caption] Al-Mustapha, a former Chief Security Officer (CSO) to the late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, was sentenced to death on Jan. 30, over the alleged murder of the Kudirat, on June 4, 1996 in Lagos. Kudirat was wife of the late business mogul and politician, Chief M.K.O. Abiola. Al-Mustapha, who waved to well wishers that besieged the prison, said: ``thank God, thank God,’’ as he was rushed into a jeep, which drove him away. The former CSO was driven off in the same vehicle with Shof...