Former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida (retd.), has once again denied longstanding allegations of involvement in the assassination of veteran journalist and Newswatch Editor-in-Chief, Dele Giwa.
Recall that Dele Giwa, a prominent journalist and vocal critic of Babangida’s military regime, was assassinated in a parcel bomb attack at his residence in Ikeja, Lagos State, on October 19, 1986.
Giwa had been accused of stockpiling weapons to allegedly instigate a socialist revolution in Nigeria just two days before his murder. This allegation was reportedly made by a senior official from the Directorate of Military Intelligence, prompting Giwa to immediately seek legal counsel from renowned human rights lawyer Gani Fawehinmi.
According to reports, Giwa’s concerns deepened when, the next day, Colonel Halilu Akilu, a top security official, contacted him to assure him that the matter had been resolved and that there was no reason to worry.
However, just hours later, a package arrived at Giwa’s residence. His son, Billy Giwa, received the package and handed it to his father, who was seated at the dining table with Newswatch’s London correspondent, Kayode Soyinka, who was visiting from the UK.
The envelope, marked “To be opened by addressee only,” bore the seal of the Presidency. Upon opening it, the parcel exploded, killing Giwa instantly and leaving Soyinka injured but alive. The assassination remains one of Nigeria’s most infamous unresolved murders.
In his newly released autobiography, A Journey in Service, launched in Abuja on Thursday, Babangida addressed the allegations surrounding Giwa’s murder. He maintained his innocence and expressed hope that the real perpetrators would eventually be uncovered.
Speaking on the matter, he stated:
“The hysteria of the media did not help the investigation of the Giwa murder. As is typical of the Nigerian media, the direction was marked by an adversarial attitude towards the government, which had remained the hallmark of the Nigerian media from its colonial heyday.”
Babangida further argued that the media had a tendency to assume the government was guilty even before any substantial evidence was provided. He expressed his disappointment that, despite the case being reopened during Olusegun Obasanjo’s civilian administration at the Oputa Panel on Human and Civil Rights, no new evidence emerged.
“When the Obasanjo civilian administration reopened the Giwa case at the Oputa Panel on Human and Civil Rights, I expected that the police and lawyers would come forward with new evidence as to their findings on the Giwa murder over the years. Nothing of such happened.”
He lamented that, like many other unresolved murders, Giwa’s case had remained a mystery for decades. However, he expressed hope that the truth would one day come to light, whether in his lifetime or long after.
“The Giwa case, like all mysterious murders, has remained unsolved after so many years. I keep hoping it will be uncovered in our lifetime or after us. More often than not, mysterious crimes are solved long after their commission.”