Mr. Dele Giwa

Twenty six years after the murder of the founding Editor-in-Chief of Newswatch magazine, Mr. Dele Giwa, the Lagos State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) has urged the Inspector General of Police (IG), Mohammed Abubakar, to re-open investigations into the killing of the media icon.

The IG, according to Lagos journalists, should use his experience as crack police detective to revisit the investigation into the murder of Giwa.

In a statement by the Chairman of Lagos NUJ, Mr. Deji Elumoye, and the Secretary, Comrade Sylva Okereke, in commemoration of the 26th anniversary of the death of Giwa, who was killed via a parcel bomb on October 19, 1986, the council wondered why the police had found it difficult to unravel the killing of Giwa 26 years after.

The statement reads: “It is surprising to note that since his murder on Sunday, October 19, 1986 at his Ikeja, Lagos residence, the issue has not been resolved. Lagos NUJ stressed that the only way the issue would be resolved is to bring the culprits to book. Anything short of this is nothing but an unresolved murder, which will linger on for many years to come.”

The statement also enjoined security agencies to fish out the killers of Godwin Agboroko, the former Editorial Board Chairman of THISDAY Newspaper; Bayo Ohu of The Guardian, Edo Sule Ugbagwu of The Nation newspapers and Abayomi Ogundeji, also of THISDAY.

“We urge the IG of Police to prove his mettle as crime buster along with other security operatives in the country to reopen investigations into the deaths of these journalists who were killed by unknown gunmen in an attempt to cow the media. This is the only way Nigerians should renew their confidence in the security operatives in the country. Anything short of this is unacceptable and untenable,” the statement said.