Former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida (retd.), has denied longstanding allegations of involvement in the assassination of veteran journalist and Newswatch Editor-in-Chief, Dele Giwa.
Recall that Giwa, a prominent critic of Babangida’s military regime, was assassinated with a parcel bomb at his home in Ikeja, Lagos State, on October 19, 1986.
Just two days before the attack, a senior official from the Directorate of Military Intelligence had accused Giwa of illegally importing and stockpiling weapons to orchestrate a socialist revolution in Nigeria.
Concerned about the allegation, Giwa immediately informed his lawyer, Gani Fawehinmi. The next day, a top security official, Colonel Halilu Akilu, reportedly called to reassure Giwa that the accusation was a misunderstanding, had been resolved, and there was no cause for concern.
Hours later, a package arrived. Giwa’s son, Billy, received it 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.
However, in his autobiography, A Journey in Service, launched in Abuja on Thursday, Babangida denied any involvement in Giwa’s assassination, expressing hope that the truth would one day be revealed.
He said, “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.
“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 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.”
