Nigerians have given mixed reactions to the decision to drop charges against the son of the late military leader, General Sani Abacha.

In the northern city of Kano, where Mohammed Abacha grew up, there were street celebrations.

He had been accused of ordering the killing of the wife of former opposition leader Moshood Abiola in June 1996.

But the BBC's Dan Isaacs in Lagos says many in Nigeria will see this as a failure of the Nigerian civilian government to tackle the worst political excesses of the military era.

In a four-to-one majority decision, the Supreme Court in Abuja ruled that there was no evidence to continue with the trial.

The decision came two months after President Olusegun Obasanjo revealed details of a deal with the Abacha family.

Politics or law?

They were allowed to keep $100m, if they returned $1bn which was sent to foreign bank accounts while General Abacha was head of state between 1993 and 1998.

This Day newspaper, based in the south-western city of Lagos, asks whether the decision was based on political, rather than legal considerations.

Abiola died a month after his jailer

Kudirat Abiola was shot dead in Lagos, while she was campaigning for the release of her husband, the presumed winner of the 1993 elections.

Chief Abiola, who gained much of his support from his fellow ethnic Yorubas in south-western Nigeria, died in prison in 1998, one month after Sani Abacha died.

Mohammed Abacha's mother, Maryam, was overjoyed with the news.

"I thank Almighty Allah for the judgment, but I will not say anything again until he comes back home," she said.

Benefited

He remains in prison as he is still facing fraud charges but the BBC's Amina Waziri in Kano says that he is nevertheless likely to be freed soon.

Our correspondent told the Network Africa programme that while some people in Kano benefited from the Abacha administration, the whole city is not celebrating the news.

Obasanjo did a hard deal with the Abachas

And she adds that elsewhere in the country, people will not be happy.

The judge who issued the court decision said that the case against Mr Abacha was based on suspicion.

"Suspicion, however well founded, does not amount to a prima facie case," Judge Belgore said.

However, the dissenting judge, Akintola Olufemi Ejiwunmi, described the ruling as the "tyranny of the majority".

Speaking about the deal with the Abachas, President Obasanjo called it one of the hardest decisions of his life because they did not deserve the $100m they were being allowed to keep.

But he said a settlement would avoid a costly and time-consuming legal process.