Hamza al-Mustapha

Major Hamza al-Mustapha (born 27 July 1960) is a retired Nigerian Army major and intelligence officer. He has held several sensitive military, security, and intelligence offices, culminating in his appointment as the Chief Security Officer to the Head of State, military dictator General Sani Abacha from November 1993 to June 8, 1998.

Major

Hamza al-Mustapha
Chief Security Officer to the Head of State
In office
November 1993 – June 1998
Head of StateSani Abacha
Personal details
Born (1960-07-27) 27 July 1960
Nguru, Northern Region, British Nigeria
(now Nguru, Yobe State, Nigeria)
NationalityNigerian
Alma materNigerian Defence Academy
Military service
Allegiance Nigeria
Branch/service Nigerian Army
Years of service1983–1998
RankMajor
Battles/warsChadian-Libyan conflict
Nigeria-Cameroon conflict
Liberian Civil War
Sierra Leone Civil War

Early life

Hamza al-Mustapha was born and educated in Nguru. He secretly enrolled as an officer cadet at the Nigerian Defence Academy and was commissioned into the Nigerian Army as a second lieutenant.

Rise to power

Military intelligence

Al-Mustapha was trained as a military intelligence operative. He was involved in at least two investigations of coup attempts; he also conducted operations in Chad, Liberia and Sierra Leone. His conduct of interrogations brought him to the attention of General Sani Abacha.

Third Junta

From August 1985 to August 1990, Al-Mustapha was Aide-de-Camp (ADC) to Chief of Army Staff, General Sani Abacha. Both his principal and head of state, General Ibrahim Babangida had absolute confidence in his abilities, and entrusted him with exceptional powers, considerably greater than other officers who were nominally his superior.

This further projected him as a strongman of the military hierarchy.[1] He later played an important role in the palace coup that ousted interim president Ernest Shonekan and the Interim National Government on November 17 and brought General Sani Abacha to power.

Abacha era

Organs of terror

Al-Mustapha was appointed Chief Security Officer to the Head of State (CSOHS) with a Special Strike Force Unit during Abacha's military regime (17 November 1993 – 8 June 1998). Other security outfits at the time were the Office of the National Security Adviser under Ismaila Gwarzo; National Intelligence Agency; Directorate of Military Intelligence; and the State Security Service all under al-Mustapha. All of these units engaged in extrajudicial killings of people seen as threats to the regime.[2]

After being appointed head of security, Al-Mustapha established a number of small security outfits recruited from the military and other security organizations and trained in Israel and North Korea.[3] National Security Adviser Ismaila Gwarzo and al-Mustapha were said to be responsible for much of the "torture, killing and wanton looting" during Abacha's rule.[4] Al-Mustapha instilled such fear that he was purported to be the angel of death of the regime's terror machine, with military generals and politicians fearing him in totality.[5]

Power politics

Al-Mustapha oversaw the reorganisation of the entire territory of Nigeria into six geopolitical zones, in this he cultivated a vast network of spies and informants across the federation;

Al-Mustapha also played a role in shaping regime propaganda and provided state support to the Youth Earnestly Ask for Abacha campaign, which organised the controversial 2 Million Man March in support of Abacha. He also successfully intimidated all the political parties into endorsing Abacha as the sole presidential candidate.

Transfer of power

In June 1998, following the death of Abacha, Al-Mustapha was quickly removed from office by the transitional regime led by General Abdulsalam Abubakar.[6]

Imprisonment

Imprisonment

Following his arrest, Al-Mustapha was first held and questioned during the Oputa panel, then accused of plotting at least four coups from prison, before being moved to the Kirikiri Maximum Security Prison, where he was tortured for over a year. He was in chains and solitary confinement for over a year, allowed only a cup of water daily and subject to psychological torture. His private residences in Abuja, Kano and Yobe were looted by government operatives, his children's toys were burned in front of him to instil fear, his family was subject to numerous threats, and throughout his incarceration he was allowed to see his parents only twice - who later died.[7] In May 2011, there were rumours that al-Mustapha had been murdered at the Kirikiri Maximum Security Prisons where he was being held, but these turned out to be untrue.[8]

Acquittal

In 2007, there were appeals for al Mustapha's release including from former military head of state Ibrahim Babangida. On 21 December 2010, al-Mustapha and his co-defendants were acquitted of most charges.[9] However, al-Mustapha was still not cleared of the alleged murder of Kudirat Abiola. In July 2011, the case was reopened.[10] Hamza Al-Mustapha and his co-accused Lateef Sofolahan testified to their innocence of the murder charges.[11] On 30 January 2012, the Lagos High Court subsequently found al-Mustapha guilty of the murder and he was sentenced to death by hanging.[12] On 12 July 2013, The Court of Appeal in Lagos overturned the high court judgement and acquitted al-Mustapha of all murder charges of Kudirat Abiola.[13] During the fifteen year trial, al-Mustapha appeared before thirteen different judges and two magistrates.[14]

Fourth Republic

Following his release, al-Mustapha moved to Kano.[15] In January 2017, the Government of Lagos State filed an appeal with the Supreme Court of Nigeria,[16] for the apex court to uphold the previous death by hanging verdict of the Lagos High Court.[17]

Partisan politics

In 2017, he entered into partisan politics with his strong youth and grassroots support he founded the Green Party of Nigeria (GPN)[18], he later emerged as the presidential candidate of the Peoples Party of Nigeria (PPN) during the 2019 presidential election.[19]

Charges

Targeted killings

In October 1998, he was charged with the June 1996 Kudirat Abiola murder, wife of the presidential candidate M.K.O. Abiola (who had died in jail in July 1998).[20] At the trial the killer, Sergeant Barnabas Jabila, said he was obeying orders from his superior, al-Mustapha.[21]

Al Mustapha and four others were also charged with a 1996 attempt to murder Alex Ibru, publisher of The Guardian and Abacha's Minister of Internal Affairs. Another charge was laid against al-Mustapha for the attempted murder of former Chief of Naval Staff Isaac Porbeni.

Obasanjo assassination attempt

On 1 April 2004, he was charged with being involved in a plot to overthrow the government. Allegedly he had conspired with others to shoot down the helicopter carrying President Olusegun Obasanjo using a surface-to-air missile that had been smuggled into the country from Benin.[22]

Torture of women

On the orders of First Lady Maryam Abacha, al-Mustapha was also accused of detaining and torturing several women suspected to be Abacha's girlfriends.[23]

Drug trafficking

As head of the State Security Service (SSS), al-Mustapha was also accused of involvement in drug trafficking, using diplomatic pouches to transport the drugs.[24]

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References
  1. David S. Sorenson, Pia Christina Wood (2005). The politics of peacekeeping in the post-cold war era. Routledge. p. 186. ISBN 0-7146-8488-0.
  2. Francis Nwonwu, Dirk Kotzé, ed. (2008). African political elites: the search for democracy and good governance. African Books Collective. pp. 124–125. ISBN 0-7983-0184-8.
  3. Adeyeye Joseph (April 3, 2004). "AL-MUSTAPHA AND THE COUP STORY". ThisDay. Retrieved 2011-06-25.
  4. IRBC (1 February 1999). "Nigeria: Update to NGA30594 of 27 November 1998 on the fate of those said to be involved in the alleged December 1997 coup plot". Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. Retrieved 2011-06-24.
  5. "The Leaked Video Of Gen. Adisa Begging Maj. Mustapha - #Oputapanel". YouTube.
  6. Richard Haass (1999). Transatlantic tensions: the United States, Europe, and problem countries. Brookings Institution Press. p. 225. ISBN 0-8157-3351-8.
  7. "Al-Mustapha relieves his experience in detention; talks about Abacha and other issues". YouTube.
  8. Edwin Olofu, Ifedayo Adebayo and Nicholas Ibekwe (March 5, 2011). "Hamza Al-Mustapha is alive and well". Online Nigeria. Retrieved 2011-06-25.
  9. Nicholas Ibekwe (December 22, 2010). "Al-Mustapha, others acquitted of attempted murder". Next (Nigeria). Archived from the original on September 6, 2011. Retrieved 2011-06-25.
  10. WALE IGBINTADE (October 5, 2011). "Al-Mustapha: Court fixes May 31 to rule on the application to re-open the case". Archived from the original on 2012-03-20. Retrieved 2011-06-25.
  11. Abdulwahab Abdulah (August 18, 2011). "I was not Kudirat's personal assistant – Sofolahan". Vanguard (Nigeria). Retrieved 2011-08-19.
  12. Abdulwahab Abdulah & Bartholomew (January 31, 2012). "KUDIRAT ABIOLA : Al-Mustapha to die by hanging". Vanguard Nigeria. Retrieved 2012-01-30.
  13. "Appeal Court Frees Al-Mustapha - P.M. News". www.pmnewsnigeria.com. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
  14. "POINT OF VIEW: 15 Years After, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha Speaks Up". YouTube.
  15. "Tearful Al-Mustapha declares... I met empty home!". Vanguard News. 2013-07-20. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
  16. Soniyi, Tobi (2017-01-13). "Lagos Gets Supreme Court's Nod to Challenge Appeal Court's Decision Freeing Al-Mustapha, Shofolahan". THISDAY. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
  17. "Kudirat's Murder: Lagos govt asks Supreme Court to convict al-Mustapha, Shofolahan - Premium Times Nigeria". 2017-08-29. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
  18. "2019: Al-Mustapha Unveils New Political Party, the Green Party of Nigeria (GPN)". SIGNAL. 2017-04-20. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
  19. Ani, Emmanuel (2018-10-07). "Al-Mustapha emerges PPN presidential candidate". Daily Post Nigeria. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
  20. Human rights watch world report, 2000. Human Rights Watch. 1999. p. 58. ISBN 1-56432-238-6.
  21. Olayiwola Abegunrin (2003). Nigerian foreign policy under military rule, 1966-1999. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 156. ISBN 0-275-97881-8.
  22. Valentine Cyndy Egbejimba (2009). Mugu. Dorrance Publishing. p. 140-140. ISBN 1-4349-9384-1.
  23. Dapọ Adelugba (2008). Rethinking security in Nigeria: conceptual issues in the quest for social order and national integration. African Books Collective. p. 138. ISBN 2-86978-211-X.
  24. Abejide Olusegun (2010). Ibb - Smart But Foolish: Reasons He Can't Be the Next President. Trafford Publishing. p. 79. ISBN 1-4269-4508-6.
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