*As Nigerians demand declassification of
investigation
By Charles Kumolu & David Okpe
Lagos —THE thirtieth anniversary of the
assassination of the founding Editor-in-Chief
of Newswatch Magazine, Mr. Dele Giwa
provided an opportunity for Nigerians to urge
the Federal Government to declassify the
outcome of the various investigations into
the matter, noting that doing so would easily
unmask those behind the gruesome murder.
It was also an avenue to demand that the
case be included among those to be
reinvestigated in line with a recent directive
by President Muhammadu Buhari for the re-
opening of all unresolved high-profile
assassinations in Nigeria.
At the event, which was convened,
yesterday in Lagos, by the Lagos State
chapter of the Nigeria Union of Journalists,
NUJ, attendees unanimously said
unravelling Giwa’s killers would not be a
challenge considering the availability of
reports on the issue especially the position
of Oputa Panel on human rights violations.
Those at the forum, entitled: ‘ Safety of
Journalists and the Culture of Impunity in
Africa’ , include the Lagos State governor, Mr.
Akinwumi Ambode, who was represented by
the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of
Information and Strategy, Mr. Fola Adeyemi;
Lagos State Police Commissioner, Mr. Fatai
Owoseni; House of Representatives
member, Mr. Sani Zoro; President, Nigerian
Guild of Editors, NGE, Mrs. Funke
Egbemode; General Manager/Editor-in-Chief
of Vanguard Newspapers, Mr. Gbenga
Adefaye; human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi
Falana, SAN, who was represented by Mr.
Malachy Ugwumadu and co-founders of
Newswatch Magazine, Messrs. Ray Ekpu,
Yakubu Mohammed and Dan Agbese.
Others are Mr. Dare Babarinisa; Second Vice
President of Nigerian Bar Association, NBA,
Mr. Monday Ubani; President of Tell
Communications, Mr. Nosa Igiebor;
Executive Secretary of Dele Giwa
Foundation, Mr. Richard Akinnola; Deputy
Managing Director of Thisday Newspapers,
Mr. Kayode Komolafe; Managing Director/
Editor-in-Chief of The Sun Newspapers, Mr.
Eric Osagie; wife of the deceased, Mrs.
Funmi Giwa; daughter of the deceased, Miss
Aisha Giwa and a younger brother of the
late journalist, Mr. Tunde Giwa, among
others.
Falana tasks media
In his remarks, Falana, who was the guest
speaker, urged journalists to keep the issue
on the front burner to enable the police
unmask those behind the act which
happened on October 19, 1986.
Dele’s death touched our family — Brother
On his part, Dele Giwa’s younger brother,
Tunde Giwa, said: “It is my believe that



keeping his memory alive in this manner
would keep the issue alive. That is why we
came up with the Dele Giwa Foundation. I
have to thank Funmi, she is the only one I
know as Dele Giwa’s wife. The death of
Dele Giwa touched our family in a negative
way because he was the only one we had.
”I want to beg the media not to let the
death go like that. We still want justice to
be done because we all know the person
responsible. I can even mention the
person’s name. Gani Fawehimi told me that
even if it will take 50 years, we must ensure
the killer is brought to book.”
FG should reopen case— Ekpu
On his part, Ekpu said: “We issued a
statement indicating that the government
should reopen the investigation into the
case. We stand by our position. All of us
here are collective widows, it is not just
Funmi and Dele’s brothers who were made
widows by that dastardly act of 30 years
ago. The perpetrators thought the issue
would be quickly done and forgotten but it
was quickly done but has not been
forgotten. Books have been written on it,
positions have been taken, we must not
forget that a lot of Nigerians have been
killed and the killers have not been brought
to justice. That is why we must ensure that
the killers are brought to book.”

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/10/fg-can-unmask-dele-giwas-killers/
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