August 3, 2013 by Samuel Awoyinfa
The executive chairman, Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, Mr. Debo Adeniran, has said that the former Chief Security Officer to the former dictator, General Sani Abacha, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, should not be celebrated because he was part of the tyrannical rule foisted on the nation by the regime.
Al-Mustapha, who was incarcerated over the murder of late Kudirat Abiola for almost 14 years, was discharged and acquitted on July 12 by the Court of Appeal.
Addressing journalists on Thursday, Adeniran said, “Al-Mustapha should not be celebrated as a hero. Though the court has discharged and acquitted him, he participated in the tyranny of Abacha regime. As the chief security officer, he was a principal participant in that iron-fisted regime. With that, we don’t want to befriend him.
“In that vein, every act of the government was a collective responsibility of everyone who participated in it.”
While he said the CACOL did not have any grouse with the founder of Oodua Peoples Congress, Dr. Frederick Fasehun, who was sympathetic toward Al-Mustapha, Adeniran added that definitely his action did not represent the interest of the whole of Yoruba land.
He noted, “Dr. Fasehun has the right to his own view; we cannot crucify him for that. Perhaps he might have some information that we don’t have. Definitely, his position is not representative of the Yoruba.”