The International Press Centre has called on the Federal Government and security agencies to reopen investigations into the assassination of veteran journalist and Newswatch magazine founding Editor-in-Chief, Dele Giwa, 40 years after his death.
The organisation said the circumstances surrounding Giwa’s killing remained unresolved, with no one held criminally accountable for the murder, describing the situation as a major setback for justice, press freedom and the protection of journalists in Nigeria.
The Executive Director of IPC, Lanre Arogundade, made the call in a statement issued on Monday by the organisation’s Press Freedom Officer, Melody Akinjiyan, to mark the 40th anniversary of Giwa’s death.
Giwa was killed on October 19, 1986, when a parcel bomb was delivered to his home in Lagos. He was 39. Before his death, he had served as Sunday Editor of National Concord and played a significant role in shaping investigative journalism as the founding Editor-in-Chief of Newswatch magazine.
Arogundade described the assassination as an attack not only on Giwa and his loved ones but also on the fundamental right of journalists to investigate issues, question those in authority and report in the public interest without intimidation or violence.
He said, “Forty years without justice is far too long. Silence cannot substitute for accountability, and the passage of time must not become an excuse for abandoning the pursuit of truth.”
The IPC urged the Federal Government, the Nigeria Police Force and relevant investigative and prosecutorial authorities to launch a credible and independent investigation into Giwa’s murder, using available evidence, historical records and previous investigative findings.
It also called for renewed investigations into the killings of other journalists whose murders remain unresolved, including Bayo Ohu of The Guardian, killed on September 20, 2009; Nathan S. Dabak and Sunday Gyang Bwede of The Light Bearer, killed on April 24, 2010; Zakariya Isa of the Nigerian Television Authority, killed on October 22, 2011; and Enenche Akogwu of Channels Television, killed on January 20, 2012.
Others listed by the organisation were Maxwell Nashan of the Federal Radio Corporation, killed on January 15, 2020; Alex Ogbu of The Regent Africa Times Magazine, killed on January 21, 2020; Emmanuel Adeyemi of The Sun, killed on October 26, 2020; Titus Badejo of Naija FM, killed on June 19, 2021; and Tordue Salem of Vanguard, killed on November 11, 2021.
The centre also urged the government to preserve Giwa’s legacy by strengthening measures to protect journalists, stressing that press freedom remained essential to transparency, democratic accountability and the protection of citizens’ rights.
It warned that celebrating the journalist’s memory without resolving his murder would be inadequate, adding that Nigeria could not credibly uphold press freedom while leaving one of its most notorious attacks on a journalist unresolved for four decades.
