How Basorun Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (M.K.O.) was killed.

THE type of poison used to kill General Sani Abacha and Basorun Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (M.K.O.) Abiola in 1998 is known as ‘Chemical 1’ in espionage and diplomatic circles and it is one of the most ‘deadly and scariest’ poisons in the world.  It is colourless and odourless and can be injected into the skin, dissolved in a liquid, or simply released into the air. Any target will be dead in minutes.

Presidential candidate of the National Action Congress (NAC), Dr. Olapade Agoro, who is close to Nigeria’s security circle, disclosed this while reacting to the revelations by the Chief Security Officer (CSO) to Abacha, Major Hamza al-Mustapha, at a Lagos High Court.

Al-Mustapha declared before Justice Mojisola Dada that a high-level conspiracy, involving some senior military officers, civilian and foreign collaborators, led to the murder of Abacha and Abiola on June 8, 1998 and July 7, 1998 respectively.

Agoro, a cleric and businessman, said the poison was the type used by the United States (U.S.) to try and eliminate Adolf Hitler during the Second World War “but he was saved by his girlfriend”. He also alleged that Abiola, being an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), would not have been killed if he had heeded the warning of the American agency that he should renounce his mandate.

Agoro revealed that a late Yoruba leader was in the United States (U.S.) when the plot was hatched to kill Abiola during the General Abdulsalami Abubakar regime and he may have collected part of the $200 million, 75 million pounds and N500 million withdrawn from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to bribe South-West leaders. 
He said: “Al Mustapha’s revelation came late but was truthful, strong and damning. The type of Chemical 1 used on M.K.O. and Abacha could only be produced for that type of a deadly assignment by the Western power, particularly the U.S.

“Considering the fact that some agents of the West were present when M.K.O. was served the tea, a liquid he took last before he died, one can reasonably conclude that he was poisoned, using Chemical 1 which once taken dissolves into the blood system within a minute and, thereafter, becomes untraceable. “The U.S. attempted killing Adolf Hitler with Chemical 1 in tea during the Second World War but the plan was voided by Hitler’s girl friend.

“Abiola was an agent of the FBI. The agency told him it was enough but he did not heed and that was why he was eliminated. They used the nurse treating Abiola to poison him. The nurse was a Pakistani and you know Pakistan is also an agent of the U.S. The lethal poison cannot be procured in Nigeria”.
In his reaction, Afenifere chieftain, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, said al-Mustapha must mention the names of the Yoruba leaders who collected the money and Abubakar must speak whether his regime withdrew the sum from the CBN for that purpose.

Adebanjo, who maintained that Afenifere had always insisted that Abiola death was a conspiracy, said: “We have always maintained that Abiola ‘s death was a conspiracy. al-Mustapha was the CSO then, so he knows all the details. If what he is saying is not true, Abdusalami should refute the allegation.
“al-Mustapha said he is being persecuted because he knows too much about what transpired and how Abacha and Abiola were murdered. Let him (Abdusalami) produce his own video and audio tapes about what happened; how Abacha and Abiola died to counter the al-Mustapha’s tape. The truth shall come out one day”.
To the founder of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), Dr. Fredrick Isiotan Fasehun, he was not one of those who collected money from Abubakar.
He said: “I can assure you I’ m not one of the South-West leaders he was referring to. Nigerians will always be Nigerians, whether from the South, North or East. Corruption sustains our government at any level”.

OPC National Coordinator, Otunba Gani Adams, said: “The information is true. It was through the connivance of some Yoruba leaders that Chief M.K.O. Abiola was murdered. And you will realise that it was about the same time that Abdusalami was going through the South-West states to induce some leaders. You will discover that none of the notable leaders were there when Abiola was buried. They stayed away, it was the masses that buried him.

“Abiola, Bola Ige and Funso Williams were murdered without any clue to their death. Abiola was traded off because of the selfish interest of some leaders. If they want to deny it that they took money, al-Mustapha may be forced to open the Pandora Box and name them and the amount they got each from the Abdusalami-led military junta. We have to talk now, this is not the time to keep silent. It is true that some people took money to compromise Abiola and the pan-Nigerian mandate bestowed on him”
But, Afenifere leader, Chief Reuben Fasoranti, described the allegation as wild.

Fasoranti told the Nigerian Compass that al-Mustapha’s allegation was not only wild but an afterthought in order to wriggle out of the murder charge hanging on him.
According to the octogenarian politician who was in the forefront for the revalidation of Abiola’s mandate, there was no sharing of money among Yoruba leaders that he was aware of to betray the winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election.
Pointedly, Fasoranti said what sl-Multapha said was a contradiction of the reality of the situation, adding that he should substantiate the allegation instead of making sweeping statements that may embarrass Yoruba leaders.

Legal luminary, Aare Afe Babalola,  also said that al-Mustapha should be bold enough to give the names of those who collected the money.
He said: “In the interest of the whole Yoruba race, he should give the names of those leaders who collected the money”.
In his view, the Catholic Bishop of Ekiti Diocese, Most Rev. Felix F.Ajakaye, advised al-Mustapha not to heat up the polity, calling on him to give facts of the matter and not be a propagandist.

However, the Director of Africa Network on Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ), a non- governmental organisation and public analyst, David Ugolor, described al-Mustapha as a man “who has no history of integrity” and “an interested party in the entire Abiola saga”, particularly concerning the military onslaught and several killings that characterised the then military era under which he served.
Ugolor told the Nigerian Compass: “Mustapha is an interested party in the whole Abiola saga and whatever anything Mustapha says, one  would want to see how opportunity would be established for it to be confirmed and because I don’t have the other side of the story, it will be difficult for me to completely say what Mustapha said is true or not.

“He was a key stakeholder in the entire process, he was in Aso Rock. He also has his own interest. Mustapha has no history of integrity in terms of human rights. So, when Mustapha is saying anything, you have to be cautious. So, the fact that he is in prison now, he wants to whip sentiments, there is no doubt. He is like a sinking man but as that may be, whatever anything he said, it will be wrong to throw it out completely because I think that we need to reflect on things that happen in this country if we must move forward in constructive development.

The ANEEJ boss maintained that beyond what Mustapha said, “he has the responsibility to make those audio and video evidences he claimed that he has available to human rights groups who I think are in a better position to make the reprint or republication of those materials available so that it can generate public debate as to the role individuals played during that time because I think this is one of the things General Babangida had also referred to that he agreed to take responsibility for the annulment of the June 12 election but, at the same time, if you read his commentary ever since, you will note that he didn’t take that decision just alone. There are people who jointly took that decision with him and to a  large extent, those people are hiding under Babangida’s non commitment to disclosing who played what role.

“So, when you have a Mustapah coming out clearly to say things about how the government treasury was looted to appease some individuals in the South-West who particularly were aggrieved as a result of their son who was killed, it gives room for more investigations.
“It is the same characters of people either by offshoot or friendship that are still in power in the last 20 years. So, if Mustapha ever expect justice from the present government in dealing with issues that he has exposed, he is on his own but I think the better way to move forward in ensuring that what Mustapha has said is that Mustapha should be bold enough to make all these information available to human rights groups  and I think human rights groups should be able to make good use of it to make further debate and once there is a public debate, I think that is the only way we can bring pressure to this government to set up an independent panel of inquiry to investigate the veracity of the statement credited to Mustapha.

Meanwhile, two human rights lawyers, Fred Agbaje and Bamidele Aturu, have absolved the courts of any blame in the more than 13 years incarceration of al-Mustapha.
al-Mustapha and two others, Rabo Lawal and Lateef Shofolahan, are being tried for alleged conspiracy and murder.
They were accused of assassinating Mrs Kudirat Abiola on June 4, 1996 along Motorways, Ikeja.
al-Mustapha was also accused of attempted murder of the publisher of The Guardian, Mr Alex Ibru.
Aturu said: “al Mustapha has himself to blame over the delay in his trial. His lawyers are the ones that have been coming up with frivolous suits which may be their strategy but which have resulted in 13 years of trial.
“The law is that a man cannot profit from his own wrong. There is no way the courts will allow him to go without concluding the matter,” Aturu said.
Agbaje said: “The courts are doing their best in ensuring that al-Mustapha’s procedural rights are complied with.
“al-Mustapha is not deliberately kept in jail. The courts are giving him every opportunity to tell his own side of the story, hence the revelations he gave on Monday”.
According to him, al-Mustapha’s many applications may have also contributed to the delay in his trial, but at the end, justice would be done.

I say, Let the trial of Al-Mustapha go on. In the end, the Judge has a choice of acquittal or sentence for life or death sentence, whichever verdict is visited on him. But his evidence has given us a chance at national healing and discovery.