40 Years After Dele Giwa’s Murder, Court Order Unimplemented – MRA

The Media Rights Agenda (MRA) has urged the Federal Government to implement a courtroom order directing it to research the assassination of Dele Giwa, founding Editor-in-Chief of Newswatch journal, and prosecute these accountable.

The name comes 40 years after Giwa was killed by a parcel bomb delivered to his residence in Ikeja, Lagos, on October 19, 1986.

In an announcement issued in Lagos to mark the anniversary, MRA described the failure to resolve the case as a “shameful reminder of the entrenched culture of impunity for attacks against journalists in Nigeria.”

The organisation’s Deputy Executive Director, Ayode Longe, stated the anniversary ought to immediate a probe into the failure of the federal government and police to ship justice, past tributes to Giwa’s contributions to Nigerian journalism.

“Forty years is far too long for the assassination of a journalist of Dele Giwa’s stature to remain unresolved. His killing must not be reduced to a recurring anniversary in Nigeria’s media calendar, accompanied by tributes and expressions of outrage but without meaningful progress towards accountability,” he stated.

Longe recalled that MRA secured a judgment on the Federal High Court in Abuja on February 16, 2024, in a swimsuit in opposition to the Attorney-General of the Federation.

He stated the courtroom ordered the Federal Government to research Giwa’s homicide and different unresolved killings of journalists and make sure the prosecution of these accountable.

However, the federal government has but to display progress or report concrete steps taken to ascertain the circumstances surrounding Giwa’s assassination, determine these accountable and pursue accountability, in line with Longe.

He described the failure to implement the judgment as a contemptuous disregard for a legitimate and subsisting judicial order.

Longe urged the Attorney-General of the Federation, the Nigeria Police Force and different related authorities to account for the measures taken to adjust to the order.

He stated the authorities ought to disclose the standing of the investigation, the investigative steps already undertaken and plans to prosecute suspects the place the proof and relevant legal guidelines warrant it.

He additionally urged investigators to discover all lawful avenues regardless of the passage of time, together with a scientific evaluation of historic investigation recordsdata, witness accounts, documentary proof and different supplies that might set up the circumstances surrounding the killing.

Modern forensic and investigative methods must also be deployed the place acceptable and possible, he added.

Longe warned that the continued failure to resolve the case despatched a harmful message concerning the security of journalists in Nigeria and the results of violence in opposition to these exercising their proper to freedom of expression.

He stated the absence of accountability for the killing of a outstanding journalist might encourage potential attackers to consider they might face no penalties.

Longe known as on the Federal Government to ascertain mechanisms to guard journalists, guarantee regulation enforcement businesses reply successfully to threats and assaults, and display via concrete motion that violence in opposition to media professionals wouldn’t be tolerated.

He stated Giwa’s legacy included the emergence of a media sector dedicated to investigating public affairs, holding these in energy accountable and offering residents with data vital for participation in public life.

According to him, a significant commemoration of Giwa’s life and work requires renewed dedication to reality, accountability, skilled braveness and the general public’s proper to know.

“As Nigeria marks four decades since his assassination, the most fitting tribute to Dele Giwa would be demonstrable progress towards justice for him and his family, stronger guarantees for the safety of journalists, and a national commitment to ending impunity for crimes against journalists and other media professionals,” Longe stated.