… Queries Nigeria’s commitment to justice, accountability

.. Cautions against reducing late journalist’s memory to annual speeches

40 years after the brutal killing of the founding editor-in-chief of Newswatch Magazine, Dele Giwa, the Safety and Protection of Journalists (SPJ) Hub of the International Press Centre (IPC) have called for renewed investigations and accountability in the unresolved assassination.

Giwa, who was described as more than a journalist by IPC Hub, was killed by a parcel bomb at his Lagos home on 19 October 1986 at the age of 39 years old.

According to a statement issued by the Executive Director of IPC, Lanre Arogundade, which was made available to newsmen by Melody Akinjiyan, Press Freedom Officer, IPC-SPJ Hub, the continued failure to bring the case to a credible conclusion served as an indictment of Nigeria’s commitment to justice, accountability and the protection of journalists.

The centre maintained that four decades after his death, no one has been held accountable, with questions surrounding the murder remaining unanswered.

“As Sunday Editor of the National Concord and later founding Editor-in-Chief of Newswatch Magazine, his commitment to investigative reporting helped reshape Nigerian journalism. Through his work, he championed the public’s right to know and demonstrated the essential role of a free press in holding power accountable.”

While marking the 40th anniversary of Giwa’s assassination, Arogundade stressed that the killing was not only a personal tragedy for the late journalist’s family, colleagues and friends but also an attack on the fundamental principle that journalists must be able 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.

The IPC-SPJ gub, however, called on the federal government, the Nigeria Police Force and all relevant investigative and prosecutorial authorities to reopen and pursue a credible, independent investigation into Giwa’s assassination and other journalists murdered in the line of duty.

He urged that all available evidence, historical records and previous investigative findings should be built upon in the course of the fresh investigations.

The centre listed other unresolved cases, including Bayo Ohu of The Guardian Newspaper, killed on 20 September 2009; Nathan S. Dabak and Sunday Gyang Bwede of The Light Bearer, killed on 24 April 2010; Zakariya Isa of the Nigeria Television Authority, killed on 22 October 2011; and Enenche Akogwu of Channels Television, killed on 20 January 2012.

Others included 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, Emmanuel Adeyemi of the Sun Newspaper, killed on 26 October 2020, Titus Badejo of Naija FM, killed on 19 June 2021 and Tordue Salem of Vanguard Newspaper, killed on 11 November 2021.

It also harped on the need for Giwa’s legacy to be honoured and strengthened protection for journalists, stressing that press freedom is indispensable to transparency, democratic accountability and the protection of citizens’ rights.

It warned against reducing Giwa’s memory to an annual remembrance marked only by speeches and tributes, stressing that his legacy demands action.

IPC-SPJ hub emphasised that Journalists deserve to know that the profession they serve is protected by the rule of law, adding that “a country cannot credibly celebrate press freedom while leaving one of its most notorious attacks on a journalist unresolved for four decades.”