Hajiya Fatima Al-Mustapha Nguru, mother of Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, former Chief Security Officer to the late head of state General Sani Abacha has di*d. She died at a hospital in Kano yesterday at the age of 67 years after a protracted illness.
Her funeral prayer was held at the family residence on Lamido Crescent area of Kano metropolis after which she was buried at Kofar Mazugal cemetery in Kano city at around 5:30pm. The deceased left behind 10 children including Al-Mustapha and many relatives.
Family members of the deceased mostly seen in tears could not talk to the press, but a close family source blamed Nguru’s d*ath on “accumulated emotional problems which had continued to worsen” since her son, Al-Mustapha, was imprisoned more than 13 years ago.
The source, who described Hajiya Fatima as a kind and loving woman, said her condition deteriorated after her last but unsuccessful attempt to see Al-Mustapha in prison after he was sentenced to de*th in January by a Lagos High Court for his alleged role in the de*th of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola in 1996.
“There wasn’t a single day that she would not discuss her son’s predicament with anybody who happened to be around her. She always believed that her son would not die in the hands of the authorities till the day she di*d.
She always believed her son was innocent”, he said.
When newsmen asked the source why not a single high profile personality could not be seen at the funeral, he said that the family deliberately decided to not to inform them. “They were part of the problems which led to her d*ath. That’s why we resolved not to inform them”, he said.
