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Abacha’s son, three others arraigned

The eldest surviving son of the late Nigerian military ruler, Sani Abacha, and three of Abacha’s former aides, were arraigned before the Lagos High Court on Thursday in a trial linked to their involvement in death squads, a media source in Nigeria told IRIN. Mohamed Sani Abacha, former major Hamza al-Mustapha, former army sergeant Barnabas Mshelia and Latif Sofala have been charged with murder, the source said. Their pleas were not taken and they were remanded in custody until 19 November. News reports said al-Mustapha was General Abacha’s senior enforcer in his security operations and that Mshelia confessed earlier this year to being a hit man for Abacha’s death squads.

This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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