By Ishaya Ibrahim, News Editor
Dele Giwa, the founding Editor-in-Chief of Newswatch magazine was killed via a letter bomb on October 19, 1986, exactly 35 years ago.
Till date, his death has not been accounted for despite the killing bearing traces of a state-sponsored-assasination.
More striking was the revelation that Colonel Halilu Akilu, a top brass of the National Security Organisation (NSO), now State Security Service (SSS), phoned Dele Giwa on the fateful day to confirm his home address.
Then a dispatch rider arrived and delivered a parcel by hand to Dele Giwa. Dele Giwa then told his wife, Funmi and a guest, Kayode Soyinka, that the parcel must have been from the Commander-in-Chief, who at the time was General Ibrahim Babangida. The parcel turns out to be a bomb, which only gets activated when opened. The rest, as they say, is history.
In commemoration of the 35th anniversary of Dele Giwa’s death, former chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Professor Chidi Odinkalu, reminded the world that Dele Giwa was murdered by the Nigerian State.
He said: “#OnThisDay in 1986, the regime of Ibrahim Babangida liquidated #DeleGiwa, Editor-in-Chief of Newswatch Magazine, by #LetterBomb. The senior
@PoliceNG officer who investigated the case, CSP Dare, also died in a mysterious car crash.”
