Al-Mustapha Makes Triumphal Entry Into Kano:Tell us your expectation.

Former Chief Security Officer (CSO) to the late Gen.  Sani Abacha, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, arrived in Kano yesterday to a rousing welcome as hundreds of thousands of supporters lined Kano streets to catch a glimpse of the once feared CSO.   Commercial activities were brought to standstill till late evening as people defied the Ramadan stress to join others to be part of the historic occasion.   Armed soldiers took over his personal security on arrival, while a combined team of police, Odua Peoples Congress (OPC) and local militia worked hard to control the huge but peaceful crowd of well-wishers.    Al Mustapha, who was at the Government House, Kano, to pay a courtesy visit to the state governor, Dr Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, betrayed emotion as he sobbed profusely in the packed hall while telling the governor how he suffered for 15 years in jail during which he lost his parents, saying he was now going home to an empty home.   According to him, “I had the opportunity to meet my beloved late father and mother twice during the last 15 years and now I have an empty house to go to.”    Al-Mustapha recalled that each time he pressed hard to meet his late parents, it angered his captors who employed every trick to frustrate any court order granting the visit, and heaping even more hardships on him for the attempt.   The former dreaded security officer told his host that his entry into the House was a clear reminder of an event on October 24, 1998 when he was brought into the Government House in tattered cloth and in chains by his captors in an attempt to charge him with planning a phantom coup.   “I am yet to reconcile with my freedom for I am yet to believe that this was the same Al-Mustapha that was brought into this House in tattered shirt and in chains October 24, 1998.   I was kept between Kano and Yobe between 24 and 26 - all in attempt to incriminate me over an alleged coup to overthrow the civilian government,” he said.   The former CSO also disclosed a wicked attempt to kidnap two of his siblings while he was in the gulag, adding that he suffered serious witch-hunt and persecution - all in attempt to paint him black before the whole world. He, however, said he was ready to forgive him traducers.   “Yesterday is gone. I have forgiven all those who perpetrated the evil against me. I am back home and we are drawing a new line for a better Nigeria. In all I have got justice at last and we remain grateful to God who has made it possible for us to enjoy our liberty once more,” he said.   In his speech, Governor Kwankwaso commended the Nigerian Judiciary for standing by the truth, adding that Al Mustapha’s ordeal was lesson to all humans.   Al-Mustapha also visited the emir of Kano at his palace. He was accompanied to both places by the OPC national leader, Dr Fredrick Faseun, Muhammad Abacha and several other chieftains of the OPC.