Musa Balarabe Kabir
30 July 2008
opinion
Kaduna — Last week, the key witness in the trial of Major Hamza Al-Mustapha and other security officials under the late General Sani Abacha regime, Sergeant Rogers, shocked the nation when he alleged that two former Ministers of Justice, Chief Bola Ige (late), Kanu Agabi and the former Lagos State Attorney General, Professor Femi Osibanjo, visited him in prison and offered him money and other inducements with the purpose of seeking his cooperation to nail Major Al-Mustapha and other suspects facing murder trial.
The purpose of this article has nothing to do with the way the trial is proceeding so far; instead, one is concerned about the morality or propriety of government officials visiting a suspect in prison and promising him money and other material incentives with the purpose of getting someone convicted. And the silence of former Minister of Justice, Kanu Agabi, who is alive today over this serious allegation, is incredible. No less disturbing is also the convenient silence of the former Lagos State Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Professor Femi Osibanjo.
Allegations of political motivation and malice by former President Obasanjo against Major Al-Mustapha and other suspects have been rife. Therefore, the allegation by Sergeant Rogers should not be dismissed out of hand. In Europe and America, the revelation would have opened the floodgate of public outcry for investigation into the allegation by the star witness in the trial.
Chief Bola Ige cannot defend himself because he is dead but Kanu Agabi and Professor Femi Osibanjo are alive and let them not expect that the allegation will simply die away with the passage of time. But discerning Nigerians must speak up to force these indicted former public office-holders to defend themselves against this damning allegations of gross misconduct.
Chief Kanu Agabi and Professor Femi Onibanjo took an oath office to defend the constitution and do justice to all manner of people and not to pervert justice to gratify private gains or grudges. Pre-empting the course of justice is outside the defined responsibilities of any Attorney General at state or federal level. And if there is any section of the constitution which supports the kind of thing that Kanu Agabi and Professor Femi did, Nigerians demand to be educated.
It is unheard of anywhere in the civilised world to imagine a situation where government officials could seek to persuade a suspect to implicate others in return for material compensation. This alleged incident revealed by Sergeant Rogers amounted to killing justice from the start. Both Agabi and Professor Femi are Senior Advocates of Nigeria and, therefore, the interest of justice for all Nigerians should be their overriding concern.
The Federal Government should institute a high-powered panel of retired judges to investigate Sergeant Rogers' allegations against the late Bola Ige, Kanu Agabi and Professor Femi Osibanjo. The visit to Rogers' prison cell by such highly-placed public officials represents a serious abuse of office and glaring professional misconduct. Nobody is above the law and unless Kanu Agabi and Professor Femi come out to react to the issue, the Federal Government and the Nigerian Bar Association should view the allegation by Sergeant Rogers very seriously. Again, the government should establish the role of former President Olusegun Obasanjo in sanctioning the alleged visit to the star witness by the three public officials mentioned by Rogers in his testimony.
Already, Major Al-Mustapha and other suspects have spent ten years in detention and the revelation by Sergeant Rogers has added another disturbing dimension to the case. The former Chief of Army Staff, General Ishaya Bamaiyi escaped death by the whiskers after seeking a separate and accelerated trial, which ended in his acquittal.
In his press interviews after his release from prison, General Bamaiyi painted a gloomy picture of the political motives that led to his arrest, detention and trial instigated by former President Obasanjo. And that interview clearly demonstrated that political motives overshadowed the protection of public interest in the trial of Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, James Danbaba, Col. Jubril Bala Yakubu and DSP Rabo Lawal.
The latest revelation by Sergeant Rogers has given additional ammo to those who insist that former President Obasanjo was motivated by personal vengeance rather than the desire for justice when he took the decision to put these poor citizens on trial in the first place. However, the trial judge must be commended for putting the interest of justice before politics by his decision to acquit and discharge General Bamaiyi earlier. Nigerians should not treat the allegations against Kanu Agabi and Prof. Femi Osibanjo with indifference. They must publicly explain why they visited Sergeant Rogers in prison and seeking his cooperation to deal with certain suspects.
Mallam Musa wrote from No. 29B, Sheikh Abubakar Gummi Road, Anguwar Sarki, Kaduna.
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