THERE was this obvious air of apprehension inside and outside the courtroom before Thursday’s proceedings began at the Federal Court in Lagos. Journalists and other interested parties gad scrambled for vantage positions in the court.
And when Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, the Chief Security Officer to late Head of State, Gen Sani Abacha led others into the courtroom, there was this apparent but subdued reaction from the waiting crowd. Those present were anxious to know his charges with two others that were brought to the court.
Finally, they were docked on a two-count charge of plotting to overthrow the government of President Olusegun Obasanjo. Also charged were Lt. Col. Mohammed Ibn Almar Adeka and a businessman, Onwuchukwu Okorie. The fourth defendant, Navy Commander Yakubu Kudambo is on the run after having escaped from custody. He was equally charged in absentia.
Their arraignment, Thursday, brought to an end the speculations of an alleged coup plot that had lingered for months. Vanguard had exclusively reported of a coup scare which were later described after initial denials as "security breach" by Mustapha and others being held then. They were charged two days ago to have procured a Stinger Surface to Air Missile with an intent to shoot down President Obasanjo’s plane with him on board.
Their charges read:
•That you, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha (M), Col. Mohammed Ibn Umar Adeka (M), and Mr. Onwuchekwa Okorie (M) of No. 1 Industrial Road, Apapa Road, Lagos, between November 1, 2002 and March 8, 2004 in Lagos and other places in Nigeria within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court formed an intention to remove during his term of office otherwise than by constitutional means the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and manifested such intention by overt acts and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 41(a) of the Criminal Code Act Cap 77 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria and punishable under same section.
•That you Al-Mustapha, Col. Adeka, and Okorie of No. 1 Industrial Road, Apapa Road, Lagos, between November 1, 2002 and March 8, 2004 and in Lagos and other places in Nigeria within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court conspired with one another and with others at large to commit an offence, to wit: Treason and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under section 37(2) of the Criminal Code Act, Cap. 77, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990.
According to the facts of the offence, between November 1, 2002 and March 2004, the accused persons and others now at large, Lt. Col. Adeka, Commander Yakubu Kudambo and Lt. Tijani J. Abdallah and Okorie jointly and severally visited Major Al-Mustapha at the Kirikiri Maximum Security Prison several times and met at various places in Lagos and conspired among themselves and others now at large to overthrow the Federal Government of Nigeria.
•Between November 1, 2002 and March 2004, Lt. Col. Adeka, Commander Kudambo, Maj. Al-Mustapha, Lt. Abdallah and Okorie assigned themselves and other persons, roles for the purpose of overthrowing the Federal Government of Nigeria by force of arms.
•Between November 1, 2002 and March 2004, Major Al-Mustapha was assigned the role of
financing the plot through Okorie. Lt. Col. Adeka was assigned the role of coordinating the plot. Commander Kudambo was also assigned the role of coordinating and recruiting personnel for the plot while Lt. Tijani was assigned the role of sourcing for weapons to be used in the plot.
•Between November 1, 2002 and March 2004, Major Al-Mustapha disbursed various sums of money through Okorie to Lt. Abdallah for the purpose of purchasing a Stinger Surface to Air Missile to be used in shooting down the President’s helicopter with the President on board.
•Between November 1, 2002 and March 2004, Major Al-Mustapha wrote letters and made telephone calls to various persons to facilitate unfettered movement of Lt. Abdallah for the purpose of actualising the plot.
•Between November 1, 2002 and March 2004, Al-Mustapha funded Lt. Abdallah’s trips several times to Togo and Ivory Coast for the purpose of acquiring the Stinger Missile where the said Lt. Abdallah negotiated with various persons for a Stinger Surface to Air Missile to be used in shooting down the President’s helicopter.
•Between November 1, 2002 and March 2004, Commander Kudambo drafted the framework of a coup speech and the outlook of the intended government.
•Between November 1, 2002 and March 2004, Okorie visited Major
Al-Mustapha several times at the Maximum Security Prison Kirikiri and several other places where he took instructions from the former and subsequently disbursed at various times, various sums of money to various persons for purposes of the plot.
The accused men pleaded not guilty to the charges. Further hearing in the matter was adjourned till October 28, 2004 while Justice Daniel Abutu ordered the accused persons to be remanded in the custody of the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) Apapa, Lagos.
For Mustapha and others, this development has opened a new dimension aside the murder case the former CSO has been standing trial for since being picked up in 1999. And with this, another journey to an uncertainty has begun for him and others who were arraigned with him, Thursday.
In the beginning, the authorities were said to have thrown a huge security dragnet round the Kiriikiri Maximum Security Prison after Mustapha was alleged to have unlimited access to telephones with which he was alleged to have even called those in high places to the embarrassment and anger of the person(s) so called.
The Mustapha trials since 1999 have been dogged with drama, theatrics, and finally, another trial may add new dimensions to what we already know. It would take some years for anyone to forget his appearance at the Justice Oputa panel, where he earned some respect for his show of some intelligence that he was hitherto not credited with.
Mustapha’s journey (presented below) to where he is today has been long, just as nobody can predict how this one will end.
October 21, 1998: Mustapha arrested and held at the police headquarters in Abuja over alleged discovery of arms in his Kano home. An investigation panel went through the various allegations against him.
October 14, 1999: The murder trials of Mustapha and five others began at an Ikeja Magistrate court. Case adjourned to November 17, a day that marked the beginning of the Abacha regime, six years earlier.
November 17, 1999: The suspects appear in Ikeja Magistrate Court and the security agencies had a hard time controlling the crowd that taunted the suspects.
January 11, 2000: Barnabas Mshelia, also known as Sgt. Rogers, commenced his evidence-in-chief on the murder charges against Mustapha and others.
October 8, 2000: Mustapha asks for the disqualification of the trial judge, Justice Augustine Ade-Alabi, accusing him of bias.
May 24, 2001: The former CSO to Gen. Abacha asks Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu to name those who offered him and the Lagos State Attorney-General, Professor Yemi Osibajo bribes to stop the case.
March 25, 2004: Mustapha filed a suit at the Ikeja High Court asking the court to stop the Directorate of Military Intelligence, DMI, not to remove him from Kirikiri Prisons with the authority of the court. Justice Olubunmi Oyewole adjourned hearing of the matter to April 19.
March 31, 2004: A combined team of the Directorate of Military Intelligence, State Security Service, and the Police, remove Mustapha from Kirikiri Prisons about 2am. Justice Oyewole asks the Lagos State Attorney General, Professor Osibajo to investigate the matter and produce the suspect in court on April 8.
April 8, 2004: Mustapha sues the Federal Government for N100 million over his removal from Kirikiri Prisons. Joined in the suit were the Directorate of Military Intelligence, State Security Services, among others.
April 9, 2004: Justice Oyewole asks the Federal Government to produce Mustapha in court on May 4 when the murder trials were to continue. Judge turned down Mustaphas counsel’s oral application that his removal from Kirikiri Prisons was illegal.
July 15, 2004: Mustapha in court for the murder charge tells the court that he was sick. The case was adjourned, a case that had even before now, become one of the most adjourned cases since trial began in 1999. There have also been changes in the judges.
October 21, 2004: Mustapha charged with planning to blow up the President’s helicopter. His murder case at the Ikeja High Court, with the multiple suits, appeals, counter appeals, cross appeals and several trials within the trial.
For many prominent Nigerians, Thursday’s arraignment was one that nobody wanted to delve into. Former Works and Housing minister, Major-Gen. Abdulkareem Adisa who himself tasted the bitter pill of an alleged coup involvement during Al-Mustapha’s days in power, told Weekend Vanguard’s CHIOMA ANYAGAFU on phone: "I have no comments. Let the security people do their job." Both ex-Osun State governor, Chief Bisi Akande as well as Chief Ebenezer Bapatope would also not want to comment for now "until the facts become clear."
