The Federal High Court in Abuja has decreed that the Federal Government recommence the inquiry and litigation against those implicated in the assassination of the progenitor of Newswatch Magazine, Dele Giwa, in 1986. Presided over by Justice Inyang Ekwo, the court further instructed the reinvestigation of unresolved instances of extrajudicial killings involving journalists in Nigeria.
Concretely, the court directed the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice to instigate the investigative procedure. In his capacity as the Chief Law Officer, the AGF is mandated to prosecute individuals associated with the demise of Dele Giwa and other media professionals.
Dele Giwa met his tragic end due to a parcel bomb dispatched to his office in Lagos on October 19, 1986. The court’s pronouncement on Friday emanated from a lawsuit filed by the Incorporated Trustees of Media Rights Agenda, MRA.
The entity sought the enforcement of the fundamental rights of media practitioners to security as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution and the African Charter on Human & Peoples Rights. The AGF stood as the sole defendant in the case.
In his ruling, Justice Ekwo directed the FG to guarantee the adequate safeguarding and security of journalists’ lives in the nation. This instruction is in harmony with the stipulations of Sections 33 and 39 of the Constitution and Articles 4 and 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights.
