- Ekpu wants investigation re-opened
By Ishaya Ibrahim
Acting News Editor
October 19 marked the 30th anniversary of the assassination of Newswatch founding Editor-in-Chief, Dele Giwa, who was killed via a parcel bomb, the first of its kind in Nigeria.
Police investigation has led to no arrest or prosecution since 1986 when the crime was committed.
Now, however, a member of the House of Representatives and former Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) President, Sani Zorro, said he would champion a bill to declassify the official record of the investigation so far.
He spoke at a colloquium to mark the anniversary of Giwa’s murder in Lagos, organised by the Lagos NUJ council in collaboration with the Dele Giwa Foundation.
“The investigation that have so far been conducted should be declassified. I am ready to champion a bill on the declassification of official records after some length of time.
“If we have access to such information, we as journalists can further escalate the investigation and unravel the killers and their motives,” Zorro said at the event, which he chaired.
Giwa’s colleague and former Newswatch Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Ray Ekpu, asked the government to re-open the investigation.
“The perpetrators of the act thought that it was a job to be quickly done and quickly forgotten. Yes, it was quickly done. But it has not been quickly forgotten,” he reiterated.
Dele Giwa Foundation Executive Secretary, Richard Akinola, said impunity is in high level in the country because previous crimes, like the murder of Giwa, have gone unpunished.
Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, the guest speaker who was represented by Malachy Ugwamadu, said the police have closed the chapter of the assassination of Giwa, but the media has not.
He insisted that the killers must be brought to book, no matter how long it takes.
Lagos State Police Commissioner, Fatai Owoseni, confirmed that the investigation has not been closed.