Former Chief Security Officer (CSO) to the former Head of State, the late General Sani Abacha, Major Hamzat Al-Mustapha, has said that God used him to stabilise the country from possible turmoil that could have followed Abacha’s death.
The former CSO stated this when he visited the Leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF), Alhaji Mujahideen Asari-Dokubo, in his Abuja residence at the weekend.
Al-Mustapha who said he chose not to assume power during the death of General Abacha lamented that some people capitalised on his humility and loyalty to the service of the country to punish him unjustly.
He said, “Ours is to serve, preserve the country and so I did. If I had wanted, after the death of General Sanni Abacha, this country was to witness another thing. But in our character, ours is to serve the country and I did. Nobody fired one bullet the day General Abacha died. God gave me the courage. But there was so much confusion, so many agitations at that time.
“But God used me to stabilize a course and it is the course that gave birth to this democracy. So, if I had not done so that time, we would have changed the course of history. But because we kept quiet, we were humble and committed to the country, people now turned it around.”
Receiving the former CSO, Asari-Dokubo urged Al-Mustapha to forgive his accusers, adding that he was convinced the former CSO did not kill late Mrs. Kudirat Abiola.
Asari said: “For me as a person, I was very convinced that you were not part of what happened because I was very close to Kudirat and I was very close to the Lagos group that was responsible for the judicial manipulation that was going on. And I wrote those things and people said we were paid to write. People believe that anybody who says the truth or has a contrary opinion has been paid to do it.”
“We just thank God that this is not a period for politics and making political statements, but what is important is that truth has prevailed and the hypocrisy of those who wanted to sacrifice an innocent man to satisfy their perceived interest.
“As a brother, I will tell you to forgive all the people who have offended you over these years they have kept you there. Many be even if you were around, you would have died. In one way or another, they would have killed you if you have not been away but Allah who kept you alive this period of difficulty when it was quite easy to kill you didn’t put it in their mind.
“For me, forgive them. It is when you forgive that you gain more benefits from Allah.
Responding, Al-Mustapha recalled part of his struggles to clear his name:
“You know there were 10 panels I faced in five years. None of these panels found me guilty of anything. My offence was just one: Mrs Abiola’s murder. All in all, I stayed for 5 years, 2 months in solitary detention.”
