Northern emirs and chiefs, who met last Tuesday in Kaduna, have refuted reports in a section of the media that they met to take a position on the conviction of former chief security officer to the late Gen. Sani Abacha, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, by a Lagos High Court.
Speaking with LEADERSHIP exclusively yesterday, the Emir of Kazaure, Dr. Najib Hussaini Adamu, who attended the event, said insinuations in a section of the media to the effect that they met over the plight of Al-Mustapha were false.
He added that the meeting was called 10 days before the judgment was given. “The day the court convicted him was the day of the arrival of the emirs and chiefs,” said Dr. Adamu, therefore wondering how the issue could have been discussed by the monarchs.??
Adamu, who is also a respected lawyer, said the matter of Al-Mustapha was subjudice and hence could not have been a subject of discussion by the monarchs.
He called on discerning members of the public to discountenance any such reports associating the Kaduna meeting with the conviction of the former CSO to General Abacha.
Dr. Adamu said the emirs and chiefs had the serious business of studying a document prepared by a committee of 10, to advise northern state governors on how to prevent the frequent and disturbing crises in the north.
A copy of the agenda of the meeting obtained by LEADERSHIP shows that the meeting had six items on its agenda, and Al-Mustapha’s fate was not on? it.
Also in a reaction, Niger State governor Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu has? said it is the court and not the emirs that will decide the fate of? Al-Mustapha.
The position of the governor came yesterday while he was receiving the state Council of Traditional Rulers led by Etsu Nupe Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar on courtesy call at Government House, Minna.
Apparently disagreeing with? the reports that the meeting of northern traditional rulers in Kaduna on Tuesday discussed? how to release Mustapha who was sentenced to death over the murder of Kudirat Abiola, he said that the fate of the former chief security officer? would only be decided by the law courts and not the emirs.
According to him, justice must not only be done but seen to have been done in the Al-Mustapha case, as both Al Mustapha and Kudirat families all went to court to seek justice.
The governor said, “Some people sought justice and they got it in the law court while others dissatisfied went to court on appeal. We must allow justice to take its course in the courts.”
On the arrest of the spokesman of Boko Haram, Abul Qaqa, the governor said that the security agencies must extract useful intelligence information from the suspect that can lead to checkmating the sect.
He posited that the arrest of Qaqa could signal the end of the sect if the security agencies are able to coordinate themselves intelligently and effectively “Nigeria cannot break up. People should not be running from one part to another in panic,” he stated.
The Etsu Nupe and chairman of the Niger State Council of Traditional Rulers, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, emphasised the need for peace and stability in the nation.
He said the traditional rulers have been praying for peace and tranquility, adding that they were at Government House to commiserate with the governor on the recent violent protest in Minna and other parts of the state which left many property items destroyed.
“We will do everything possible to assist in ensuring peaceful coexistence of the people in the state,” he said.