Former military president, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babagida (Rtd), has denied involvement in the death of veteran journalist and Editor-in-Chief of Newswatch, Dele Giwa.
Giwa, a vocal critic of Babangida’s military government, was assassinated via a letter bomb in his home in Ikeja, Lagos State on October 19, 1986.
Two days before the incident, a senior official of the Directorate of Military Intelligence, had accused Giwa of illegally importing and stockpiling arms and ammunition to stage a socialist revolution in Nigeria.
Alarmed at the charge, Giwa quickly briefed his lawyer, Gani Fawehinmi.
The following day, a security chief, Colonel Halilu Akilu, called to reassure Giwa that the accusation had resulted from a misunderstanding, that the matters had been cleared, and that Giwa should think nothing of it.
According to Ray Ekpu, Giwa’s colleague at Newswatch, a few hours later, a government emissary arrived at Giwa’s Ikeja residence.
His son, Billy collected the parcel and handed it to his father, who was seated at the dining table in company of Kayode Soyinka, the London correspondent of Newswatch, who was visiting from the UK.
The envelope bore the seal of the Presidency and was marked “To be opened by the addressee only”.
However, dismissing the longtime allegation that he was involved in Giwa’s death, Babangida in his autobiography, “A Journey In Service”, presented in Abuja on Thursday, noted that he expected that one day, the truth would be uncovered.
He said, “The hysteria of the media did not help the Investigation of of the Giwa murder.
“As is typical of Nigeria media, the direction was marked by an adversarial attitude towards the government, which had remained the hallmark of the Nigerian media from his colonial heyday.
“It was an attitude of ‘We versus the government’ that has remained today. It is a situation in which the government is adjudged guilty even before the evidence in a case is adduced.
“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. The Giwa, like all mysterious murders, has remained unresolved after so many years. I keep hoping it will be uncovered in our lifetime or after us. More often than not, mysterious crimes are unresolved long after their commission”.
The public presentation of the of the autobiography also witnessed the launch of Babangida’s presidential library on Thursday, February 20, 2025 in Abuja.
-9News Nigeria.
