ARMED SOLDIERS RAID AL-MUSTAPHA’S RESIDENCE

Armed men, believed to be soldiers, Friday evening, raided one of the residences of Major Hamza Al Mustapha (rtd), former Chief Security Officer to the late Head of State, General Sani Abacha, located at Durbin Katsina, Kano metropolis, leaving in its wake sordid tales of rights violation and molestation.Theheavily armed men, who reportedly came in trucks and tanks, allegedly cordoned several streets leading to the house and seized the occupants who were mostly women and children in an operation that lasted 60 minutes.*Al-MustaphaAl-Mustapha’s younger brother, identified as Hadi, is also said to be a resident of the house.Eyewitnesss said the ‘soldiers’ came in trucks and tanks and, immediately they gained entrance into the building, ordered everyone around to lie face flat on ground and, at gunpoint, conducted a thorough search of the building.“One Abubakar, reportedly a cousin to Major Al-Mustapha, was maltreated by the troops. He is recuperating at a private hospital, a witness recounted.The eyewitness revealed that the wife of Hadi, Al Mustapha’s brother, was forced, at gunpoint, to conduct the armed men round the expansive building, adding that “the traumatized housewife was immediately taken to a hospital shortly after they left”.Another source stated: “The invading forces were not friendly, not even the children were spared as the house was ransacked inside out all in the name of searching for an imaginary cache of arms”.The source added, “The same treatment was meted to those outside. I heard their leader, a colonel, during a telephone conversation, telling the person at the other end that they had not found anything incriminating and that it seemed the information (they had) was not accurate”.Speaking on the development, Hadi disclosed that the family was evaluating the damages done by the men, stressing: “We intend to come up with details of what happened and the action to follow in due course.”The outgoing military spokesman in Kano State, Captain Ikediche Iweha, while reacting to the story, declared: “ Haba, we don’t invade houses. If the story you are telling is correct, then it must be the usual routine checks.“In any case, give me time to verify the matter and get back to you”.As at press time the spokesman did not call back. He is on transfer to 3rd Armoured