By Kanu Samuel
Forty years after the parcel-bomb assassination of Newswatch founding editor Dele Giwa, the International Press Centre (IPC) has called on the Federal Government and security agencies to reopen investigations into his murder and other unresolved killings of journalists in Nigeria.
The Safety and Protection of Journalists (SPJ) Hub of the IPC said the failure to bring Giwa’s killers to justice four decades after his death remained an indictment of Nigeria’s commitment to accountability, the rule of law and press freedom.
Giwa, the founding Editor-in-Chief of Newswatch magazine and former Sunday Editor of National Concord, was killed at his Lagos home on 19 October 1986 when a parcel bomb was delivered to him. He was 39.
In a statement marking the 40th anniversary of his assassination, IPC Executive Director Lanre Arogundade said the killing was not merely a personal tragedy for Giwa’s family, colleagues and friends, but an attack on the fundamental right of journalists to investigate, question authority and report in the public interest without fear of violence or intimidation.
“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,” Arogundade said.
He questioned the implications of the unresolved case for Nigeria’s democratic and human rights record, warning that leaving the killing of a journalist unresolved indefinitely could undermine public confidence in institutions responsible for upholding the law.
The IPC-SPJ Hub urged the Federal Government, the Nigeria Police Force and relevant investigative and prosecutorial authorities to pursue a credible and independent investigation into Giwa’s assassination, drawing on available evidence, historical records and previous investigative findings.
It also called for renewed investigations into the killings of nine other journalists whose cases remain unresolved, including Bayo Ohu of The Guardian, who was killed on 20 September 2009; Nathan S. Dabak and Sunday Gyang Bwede of The Light Bearer, killed on 24 April 2010; and Zakariya Isa of the Nigeria Television Authority, killed on 22 October 2011.
Others named by the organisation were Enenche Akogwu of Channels Television, killed on 20 January 2012; Maxwell Nashan of the Federal Radio Corporation, killed on 15 January 2020; Alex Ogbu of The Regent Africa Time Magazine, killed on 21 January 2020; and Emmanuel Adeyemi of The Sun, killed on 26 October 2020.
The list also included Titus Badejo of Naija FM, killed on 19 June 2021, and Tordue Salem of Vanguard, killed on 11 November 2021.
Beyond the demand for investigations, the organisation called on the government to honour Giwa’s legacy by strengthening measures to protect journalists, stressing that press freedom was indispensable to transparency, democratic accountability and the protection of citizens’ rights.
The IPC-SPJ Hub warned against reducing the anniversary to speeches and tributes, arguing that Giwa’s legacy required concrete action to ensure journalists could carry out their work without fear of violence and that perpetrators of attacks against them would face justice.
“A country cannot credibly celebrate press freedom while leaving one of its most notorious attacks on a journalist unresolved for four decades,” the organisation said.
The anniversary renews scrutiny of Nigeria’s response to violence against journalists and the longstanding demand for accountability in cases where those responsible for killings have not been brought to justice.
The statement was signed by Melody Akinjiyan, Press Freedom Officer of the IPC-SPJ Hub.
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