A Federal High Court in Abuja has issued a directive to the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice (AGF) to resume the investigation and prosecution of those accountable for the 1986 assassination of Dele Giwa, the esteemed founder of Newswatch Magazine.
Giwa tragically lost his life in his Lagos office on October 19, 1986, as a result of a letter bomb, an incident that remains one of Nigeria’s most notorious and unresolved murders.
Presiding over the case, Justice Inyang Edem Ekwo stressed the AGF’s responsibility to ensure that individuals responsible for the deaths of media practitioners, including Giwa, are brought to justice and punished in accordance with the law.
The court’s ruling also mandates the investigation and prosecution of individuals implicated in the killings of other journalists who were targeted while carrying out their lawful duties.
The lawsuit was filed by the Incorporated Trustees of Media Rights Agenda (MRA), seeking the enforcement of the fundamental rights of media practitioners to safety, as guaranteed by the 1999 Constitution and African Charters on Human Rights.
In his verdict, Justice Ekwo emphasized the paramount importance of protecting the lives of journalists, citing relevant sections of the Constitution and African Charters on Human and Peoples’ Rights.