By Abiola Olawale
Thirty-Eight years after the gory murder of the founder of Newswatch Magazine, Dele Giwa, a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Friday, directed the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, to re-open investigation and prosecution of those who murdered the renowned journalist.
The court, in a ruling on a suit against the office of the AGF, said the federal government is obligated to investigate and arrest the masterminds of the gory assassinations.
Justice Inyang Edem Ekwo, who delivered the judgment said the muder of several media practitioners in the country is a serious issue and should be treated as such.
Apart from Dele Giwa, the court ordered that the killings of other journalists in the discharge of their lawful duties must be investigated and perpetrators brought to book in line with the provisions of the law.
The ruling was pronounced in respect to the lawsuit initiated by the Incorporated Trustees of Media Rights Agenda (MRA), against the office of the AGF.
The MRA, in the lawsuit, also prayed before the court for the enforcement of fundamental rights of media practitioners to safety as guaranteed by the 1999 Constitution and African Charters on Human Rights.
It would be recalled that on October 19, 1986, Dele’s life was cynically shortened by the novel method of a parcel bomb that was delivered to his house at No. 25 Talabi Street, Ikeja, Lagos on Sunday October 19, 1986 at mid-day.
Though several investigations had been carried out by the police and other security agencies, no one has been brought to book yet on the murder of Giwa.
