How Abdulsalami Abubakar betrayed me — Al-Mustapha

[Muhsin]

How Abdulsalami Abubakar betrayed me — Al-Mustapha
By Segun Olatunji, Kaduna
Published: Tuesday, 10 Mar 2009



The detained Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, former chief security officer to the late head of state, General Sani Abacha, has spoken from prison bars at the Maximum Security Prison, Kirikiri, Lagos.

He has accused the former military head of state, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, of betrayal.

Narrating how he was allegedly betrayed by Abubakar, Al-Mustapha on the Hausa Service of the Voice of America monitored in Kaduna on Monday said that the former military ruler allegedly reneged on an agreement he had reached with him in 1998 shortly before he succeeded the late Gen. Abacha as head of state.

Al-Mustapha who was not explicit on the details of the purported agreement with Abubakar however, regretted that in 1999 after Abubakar had succeeded Abacha, he ordered his transfer to Enugu from where he was later arrested and accused of the plot to topple the then military government.

He said, "We had agreed with Abdulsalami and in 1999 I was transferred to Enugu . But they now ordered my arrest; that I was planning to overthrow him. I was arrested and chained in the most humiliating manner and driven to Kano from Enugu by road. My hands and legs were chained and I was bundled. Even with my military training, it was a very harrowing experience."

Al-Mustapha stated that on arrival in Kano under an inhuman condition, his relatives were harassed, searched and asked all kinds of questions before he was taken into prison custody.

He described his long stay in prison as unjust, adding that he had been denied his rights while friends and relations who wanted to visit him in prison were usually made to undergo heavy scrutiny and humiliation by the authorities.

He said, "Even former President Olusegun Obasanjo was allowed to see his visitors without much stress while in prison, but my case is different. Those who want to see me in prison have to submit their photographs, answer nagging questions and face scrutiny.

"When they are allowed to see me, they do so under the watchful eyes of the security and every detail of the conversation is noted, the visit is always cut short as the security agents will stampede them to hasten and leave."

He wondered why despite all the appeals on his behalf by well-meaning Nigerians, he was still being kept behind the bars in very inhuman condition, urging the appropriate authorities to re-consider his plight.

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