Friday,
February 16, 2024 - A Federal High Court
in Abuja on Friday ordered the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister
of Justice to re-open the investigation into the death of the founder of
Newswatch Magazine, Dele Giwa, in 1986.
The court ordered the chief law officer of the country to also open the
prosecution of those who killed the journalist.
Justice Inyang Ekwo gave the ruling, adding that the Nigerian
Government, through the office of the Attorney General of the Federation,
should prosecute and penalise the killers of media practitioners in the
country.
The court ordered the Nigerian government to ensure that there is proper
security and safety for journalists, as enshrined in sections 33 and 39 of the
Constitution and Articles 4 and 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples
Rights.
The Incorporated Trustees of Media Rights Agenda, MRA, had sued the AGF
for the enforcement of media practitioners' fundamental right to safety, as
protected by the 1999 Constitution and African Human Rights Charter.
Apart from Dele Giwa, the court ordered that the killings of other
journalists while performing their jobs should be investigated and that
offenders should be prosecuted in accordance with the terms of the law.
Dele Giwa and fellow journalists Ray Ekpu, Dan Agbese and Yakubu
Mohammed founded Newswatch in 1984, but its first edition was distributed until
January 28, 1985
Giwa was killed by a parcel bomb in his home in Ikeja, Lagos, while in
his study with Kayode Soyinka, on Sunday, October 19, 1986. The assassination
reportedly occurred two days after he had been interviewed by officials of the
State Security Service (SSS), also known as the Department of State Services
(DSS).
On October 19, 2023, 37 years after his death, #RevolutionNow convener,
Omoyele Sowore, decried that after so many years, the journalist and activist
had yet to get justice.
In a memorial post for the late journalist, Sowore knocked a former
military dictator, Ibrahim Babangida, alleging that he was behind the
assassination.
Sowore, the candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the 2019
and 2023 presidential elections, offered a prayer that Giwa’s spirit should
torment those who plotted his death.
His death has remained a mystery to Nigerians, especially since the
government has failed to bring anyone to justice or officially made any
concrete revelation regarding the murder.
Giwa’s death was believed to be articulately plotted and the use of a
letter bomb was unprecedented in Nigeria's history.
In remembrance of his death with none of his suspected killers made to face the law to date, Sowore in a post on his X (formerly Twitter) handle, said, “Exactly today (October 19, 1986) 37 years ago, military head of state, Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (notoriously known as “IBB) sent a letter bomb to the Lagos residence of topmost journalist, Dele Giwa, the bomb ripped through his lower abdomen and killed him.
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