A witness in the new case filed against the former Chief of Army Staff, Lt.- Gen. Ishaya Bamaiyi, Mr. Mohammed Abdul, aka Katako, on Tuesday told an Ikeja High Court that Alhaji Mohammed Abacha, one of the sons of the late Head of State,Gen. Sani Abacha, was the mastermind of the assasination of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola in 1996.
Abdul, a driver to the defunct Presidential Strike Force, otherwise known as Abacha Killer Squad, added that Mohammed was also behind the attempted murder of the leader of the defunct National Democratic Coalition, Senator Abraham Adesanya, and the Publisher of The Guardian, Mr. Alex Ibru.
He said that before 1998 when he joined the Nigerian Army, he worked as a civilian driver for Abacha’s first son, the late Ibrahim.
Abdul also told the court, presided over by Justice Joseph Oyewole, that shortly after Ibrahim’s death in a plane crash in January 1996, he began working with Mohammed Abacha at the Presidential Villa, Abuja as a driver.
He claimed that Mohammed Abacha directed him to join the dreaded killer squad which had Sergeant Barnabas Jabila (aka Rogers) and Rabo Lawal as its arrow head
The witness said he later found out that part of the assignments given to the squad was the killing of three eminent Nigerians.
Abdul said, “Alhaji Mohammed called me and told me to go to Dodan Barracks in Lagos and work with the squad to carry out the said assignments.
“I went to Dodan Barracks and met Lawal, a Chief Superintendent of police and Rogers.
”I drove them to the places where we carried out the three operations. We carried out surveillance before each of the operations.
“We were aided in this task by the Personal Assistant to the late Mrs. Abiola, Alhaji Lati, who gave us the information and pointed many places to us.
”The places we visited during our preparation for the attack were Victoria Island, Igbosere, Dolphin Estate, Ikeja and Dodan Barracks, which we normally returned to after every operation.
”I am an experienced driver who knows Lagos very well. Five of us were in the team that carried out the operations.
“The five are myself, Lawal, Rogers, Aminu Mohammed, and Sunmaila Shaibu, who was later killed in a bomb blast at Abuja Airport. But Aminu only took part in the two of the operations.”
Abdul said at a point when they were planning their operations, they went to Bamaiyi‘ office and house.
He claimed that Lawal and Rogers went inside to discuss some matters with Bamaiyi.
Abdul added that the killing of Kudirat Abiola and the attempt on Adesanya were carried out with a P 90 rifle earlier given to them by a former Zamfara State Military Administrator, Mr. Bala Yakubu.
He said that the order allegedly came from Abacha.
According to him, the attack on Ibru at the Falomo Bridge, Ikoyi on February 2, 1996 was executed using AK 47 rifle also given to them by Yakubu.
He said in all the cases, Rogers fired the shots except during the attack on Ibru when Lawal also fired.
Abdul also said that when a Peaugeot 504 they used for their operations developed a fault, Mohammed Abacha directed them to go and pick a Benz 190 parked in someone’s house.
Narrating how the attack on Kudirat Abiola was carried out, Abdul said, ” Before the attack, Lati took us to Abiola’s house on Toyin Street, Ikeja.
”We actually drove in and entered the compound. Lati conducted us briefly round the compound and pointed to some vehicles before we drove out. We went to drop him (Lati) in his house at Surulere.
”On the day of the attack, we followed Kudirat Abiola’s white Mercedez Benz from Ikeja to Allen Avenue and then to Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. When we got to the Toll Gate area, Rogers asked me to get close to the Benz and I did.
”Then, he (Rogers) leaned out of the window and started spraying the victim with bullets with the P 90 rifle. After, we immediately drove to Dodan Barracks.”
Answering questions under cross-examination by the lawyer to Bamaiyi, Mr. Osahon Idemudia, Abdul said three years after the operations, Mohammed Abacha asked them to leave the country for their safety.
He said, “In 1999, after the arrest of Major Hamza Al-Mustapha and others, Alhaji Mohammed (Mohammed Abacha) called me and told me to go to Abuja and gather up everybody who took part in the operations for the purpose of leaving the country.
“He offered us money for the travel and later gave me $10, 000. I travelled to Abuja to inform two of those who participated- Aminu and Rogers. Rogers was not interested in leaving the country.
”I travelled to Niger Republic with Aminu, but I kept $9,800 out of the $10, 000 given to me by Mohammed with a friend and went to Niger with only $200 but I came back four days later.
”When I came back I collected the money, and changed it to naira. I intended to use the money to buy a car because that was the only thing I did not have then. I already had a house.
“But on my way to where I would buy the car, armed robbers attacked me and stole the money.”
He added that during the sitting of the Special Investigation Panel set up by the Federal Government in1999, he narrated what he knew about the operations.
Abdul said that out of all the suspects who were invited to face him at the panel, it was only Lawal that faulted his confessions.
Bamaiyi is facing a fresh four-count charge of conspiracy and attempted murder on Ibru and a prominent Delta indigene, Mr. Isaac Porbeni.
Meanwhile, the Action Congress has called on the Federal Government to immediately investigate the revelations by Rogers that he served the Olusegun Obasanjo administration diligently in some yet-to-be explained capacity.
Rogers, had while testifying at the Ikeja High Court said the Strike Force worked for three Heads of State, including Obasanjo.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the AC said it was particularly alarmed by the claims.
“We are also worried because of the number of unresolved murders during the Obasanjo administration,” it said.
By Kayode Ketefe
The Punch
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
