NUJ challenges IGP on killers of Dele Giwa, other journalists

Twenty six years after the gruesome murder of the founding Editor-in-Chief of Newswatch magazine, Mr. Dele Giwa, the Lagos State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists has urged the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, to re-open investigations into the killing of the media icon.
The IGP, according to Lagos journalists, should use his experience as a crack police detective to revisit the investigation into the murder of the Giwa.
In a statement signed by the Chairman of the Council, Comrade Deji Elumoye, and the Secretary, Comrade Sylva Okereke, to mark the 26th anniversary of the death of the media icon, the NUJ wondered why 26 years after the murder of Giwa, the killers have not been found despite several promises by security agencies to unmask his killers.
According to the statement, it was surprising to note that since his murder on October 19, 1986 at his Ikeja, Lagos residence, the issue has not been resolved.
The Lagos NUJ stressed that the only way the issue would be resolved is to bring the culprits to book, adding that 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 killers of Godwin Agboroko of ThisDay; Bayo Ohu of The Guardian; Edo Sule Ugbagwu of The Nation; and Abayomi Ogundeji of ThisDay, who were murdered in the course of discharging their duties.
The statement added: “We urge the IG of Police to prove his mettle as crime burster as well as other security operatives in the country to reopen investigations of all these journalists, who were killed by unknown gunmen in an attempt to cow the media.
“This is the only way Nigerians would renew their confidence in the security operatives in the country.
“Anything short of this is unacceptable and untenable.”
The statement further charged media practitioners and, by extension, Nigerians not to relent in demanding for the killers of the aforementioned journalism martyrs as this is the only way “we can ensure justice and equity in the country.