Reopen Investigation Into Dele Giwa’s Murder, Court Orders FG’s Attorney General

Thirty-eight years after, a Federal High Court in Abuja, in a landmark ruling, has directed the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice (AGF) to resume the investigation and prosecution of those responsible for the murder of Dele Giwa, the renowned founder of Newswatch Magazine, in 1986.

Presiding over the case, Justice Inyang Ekwo obligated the AGF to ensure that the killers of media practitioners, including Giwa, are prosecuted and penalized according to the law.

Persecondnews reports that Giwa was killed in his Lagos office on October 19, 1986, through a letter bomb in an incident that has remained one of Nigeria’s most infamous and unsolved murders.

The suit was brought before the court by the Incorporated Trustees of Media Rights Agenda (MRA), seeking the enforcement of the fundamental rights of media practitioners to safety as guaranteed by the 1999 Constitution and African Charters on Human Rights.

In his decision, Justice Ekwo underscored the importance of safeguarding the lives of journalists, citing Sections 33 and 39 of the Constitution and Articles 4 and 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights.

The judge also mandated the investigation and prosecution of individuals involved in the killing of other journalists who had been targeted while performing their lawful duties.