Dele Giwa was a founder and editor of Newswatch magazine. Twenty-three
years ago today, on October 19 1986, he was killed by a letter bomb sent
by agents of the former dictator, Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida.
On
October 17 1986, Mr. Giwa, who was Nigeria’s most feared editor, had
been summoned by two notorious officials of the Babangida regime: Halilu
Akilu, former Director of Military Intelligence (DMI), and Lt.-Col.
jibola Kunle Togun, former Deputy Director, State Security Service
(SSS).
Ayodele Dele-Giwa, his last daughter never knew her dad
Forty-eight hours later, he was killed via a bomb with a parcel bearing the coat of arms of the Nigerian state. He recognized it so well, and just before the bomb went off as he opened it, had exclaimed, “this must be from the President,” referring to Babangida.
Babangida ruled Nigeria from 1985 to 1993, when popular protests forced him to leave office unceremoniously as he engaged in one of the most grievous acts of political infamy in annulling the nation's freest and fairest election in history.
Throughout his tenure, Babangida jailed or repressed his political opponents, real or imagined, or sponsored assassinations against them. Also in 1986, one of Babangida's closest childhood friends, General Mamman Vatsa, who was the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, was accused of involvement in a coup plan. Despite a clear lack of evidence, Babangida ensure he was summarily tried and quickly executed.
Babangida stole billions of dollars in Nigerian state resources and mismanaged the rest. His children and cronies became rich overnight. But most importantly, Babangida, who is so insecure he lives in a fortress, is yet to answer to his crimes against humanity and the Nigerian people, including the killing of Dele Giwa.
To show his disdain for the dead journalist and the constitution, Babangida refused to testify before the hapless National Human Rights Panel, also known as the Oputa Panel, about Dele Giwa’s murder.
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