- Police should reopen probe into the murder of the ace journalist now
The suggestion that the Police may reopen investigations into the murder of ace journalist, Dele Giwa, killed through a parcel bomb on 19 October 1986, is welcome.
The hideous killing had then provoked a national outcry as it was executed through a strange method. Journalists and human rights activists called on the Police to carry out a thorough investigation with a view to apprehending the killers and preventing reoccurrence.
However, despite the hues and cries, a shoddy job was done, thus leading to a yearly call on the Police to find the murderers. There is a general public suspicion that some officials of the government of the day knew about the murder.
Recent conflicting statements by Kayode Soyinka, who was the London Correspondent of Newswatch, whose Editor-in-Chief Giwa was, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Abubakar Tsav and former Deputy Inspector General of Police, Chris Omeben, have introduced a new dimension to the case.
It is intriguing that 19 years after the gruesome murder, principal participants are beginning to find their voice. Mr. Omeben, who claimed to have led the investigations into the case, said he faced frustrations as he was unable to reach Mr. Soyinka, dubbed the major suspect.
But Mr. Tsav has described the claim of his former boss as false. Mr. Tsav said he handled the probe and got Mr. Soyinka to make statements, as he was present with the late Giwa that day. Mr. Tsav also revealed his frustrations came from government quarters; as all attempts to get Col. Halilu Akilu and Lt. Col. Kunle Toogun, two security chiefs also named in the case, to address issues as concerned them failed.
The former Lagos Police boss claimed the two were shielded by the government and his bosses. He wondered why Mr. Omeben, who got the case file and refused to return it, is singing a different tune about two decades after.
The pledge by Olabisi Kolawole, spokesperson for the Nigeria Police, to order a fresh probe into the matter should start without delay. It is not sufficient for Ms Kolawole to promise doing so only if fresh facts emerge. The facts released to the public by Messrs Soyinka, Tsav and Omeben are enough to commence fresh investigations, as criminal cases are not statute-barred.
This is a democratic government and, fortunately, Cols Akilu and Toogun are still alive. They should be invited to answer queries on whatever they knew about the matter. Mr. Giwa should not be allowed to die in vain.
Already, there have been too many unresolved murders, many politically motivated. A. K. Dikibo, Marshal Harry, Bola Ige, Olayiwola Balogun, were some of those so killed.
We call on the Nigerian Bar Association, the Nigerian Union of Journalists and the human rights community in the country to insist on a thorough, fresh probe into the crime.
President Muhammadu Buhari who is seen as a courageous leader, and who has aversion for corruption, oppression and all forms of injustice, should step into the matter immediately by ordering a high-powered investigation into the matter.
Lawyers have always held that an injustice to one is injustice to all. This is one reason that efforts must be made to ensure that Giwa’s son, Billy, and the widow, Funmi, who were traumatized by the bombing, get psychological relief and justice.
A successful resolution of the issue would also serve to assure the general public that the Nigerian state has the capacity and will to protect citizens. This could serve as deterrence to putative future criminals. However late it might have been, the arms of the law should catch up with all who infringe the law.
Journalists in Nigeria are pursuing constitutionally assigned responsibilities; and deserve the protection of the state. Journalists — and other professionals, for that matter — should not be murder targets, simply for performing their lawful and legitimate duties.
Who killed Dele Giwa? That remains a poser yet unanswered. This is one murder that must be laid to rest — and the earlier, the better.
