Col. Hamid Ali (rtd), who was handpicked by the Abacha regime as a member of the kangaroo tribunal that sentenced renowned environmentalist
and minority rights activist Ken Saro-Wiwa to death by hanging, was on Thursday, August 27, 2015 named by President Muhammadu Buhari as the Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
A statement by presidential spokesperson, Femi Adesina confirmed the appointment alongside the following – Babachir David Lawal (Secretary to the Government of the Federation), Abba Kyari (Chief of Staff to the President), Kure Martin Abeshi (Comptroller-General, Nigerian Immigration Service), Senator Ita Enang (SSA to the President on National Assembly Matters – Senate), and Hon. Suleiman A. Kawu (SSA to the President on National Assembly Matters – House of Representatives)
The new Comptroller-General of Customs, Colonel Ali was military administrator of Kaduna State from 1996 to 1998 under the despotic regime of the late General Sani Abacha.
FILE: An indigene of Bodo, Ogoniland region in Rivers State, tries to separate with a stick the crude oil from water in a boat at the Bodo waterways polluted by oil spills attributed to Shell equipment failure August 11, 2011. (Photo Credit: AFP/Pius Ekpei)
Reacting to the cold-blooded murder of Ken Saro-Wiwa and 8 other Ogoni indigenes, Col. Ali said he had no regrets over his role in the judicial process that led to Saro Wiwa’s execution.
The Abacha regime setup a special tribunal headed Justice Ibrahim Auta along with the Kaduna-based prosecutor—Joseph Bodunrin Daudu after falsely accusing Saro-Wiwa of orchestrating the death of four Ogoni elders. After prolonged detention, abuse, torture and intimidation of Mr. Wiwa’s counsels by the Abacha regime, the panel sentenced Saro-Wiwa and eight Ogoni activists to death by hanging for a crime they never committed.
Saro-Wiwa was defended by the late human rights lawyer, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, SAN and Femi Falana, SAN. The late environmental activist and lawyer, Oronto Douglas, the youngest lawyer on the team, was also on the defense team. Fawehinmi and his team were denied entry into the venue of the tribunal’s proceedings and denied the rights to confer with the defendants. Auta denied all motions/application for continuances in a case involving capital offenses.
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