Both his principal and head of state, General Ibrahim Babangida had absolute confidence in his abilities, and entrusted him with exceptional powers, considerably greater than other officers who were nominally his superior.

In his evidence before the Commission, Major Al-Mustapha emphasized that he had subscribed to an oath to protect the Head of State and his family as well as the Seat of Government.

[3] General Sani Abacha seized power in 1993 and appointed al-Mustapha as his head of security from 17 November 1993 to 8 June 1998.

[4] Al-Mustapha oversaw the reorganisation of the entire territory of Nigeria into six geopolitical zones, in this he cultivated a vast network of spies and informants across the federation; General Sani Abacha died on 8 June 1998, following his death al-Mustapha assembled the military hierarchy in order to avoid a succession crisis.

General Abdulsalam Abubakar emerged as head of state on 9 June 1998 and al-Mustapha was removed from office and subsequently arrested.

His private residences in Abuja, Kano and Yobe were looted by government operatives, his children's toys were burned in front of him to instil fear, his family was subject to numerous threats, and throughout his internment he was allowed to see his parents only twice - who later died.

[10] On 30 January 2012, the Lagos High Court subsequently found al-Mustapha guilty of the murder and he was sentenced to death by hanging.

[23] Al Mustapha and four others were also charged with a 1996 attempt to murder Alex Ibru, publisher of The Guardian and Abacha's Minister of Internal Affairs.

Allegedly, he had conspired to shoot down the presidential helicopter of President Olusegun Obasanjo using a surface-to-air missile that had been smuggled into the country from Benin.