The man reputed for “legalizing” fraudulent activities in the country, Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida, a former military head of state, is still being haunted by the assassination of a fiery journalist, Dele Giwa, under his military regime
By Our Correspondent
The man, Dele Giwa, was a fiery journalist. A dutiful investigative media practitioner of repute. Until date, Giwa is regarded as the father of magazine investigative journalism in Nigeria with his publication of the elitist Newswatch magazine.
The medium, Newswatch had become a thorn in the flesh of the military junta in the 1980s, presided over by the evil genius, General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida, now retired. Babangida military rule symbolised corruption, deception, fraud and all manners of illicit deals that tarnished the image of Nigeria before the international community.
During this dismal era, Newswatch magazine had berthed in the country with special focus on the illicit activities that characterised the Babangida military government. Nigerian elites and opinion leaders became glued to the weekly publication to catch up with detailed reports of the Babangida military regime misdeeds. Newswatch editorial contents formed the crux of public and media discussions across the country, to the chagrin of the military administrators.
The junta had become rattled and irritated by the Newswatch publications whereupon its publisher and Editor-in-Chief, Giwa, had become a target of the government of the day.
Giwa and his credible medium must be eliminated to give the military leeway to ply their business of plundering the Nigerian oil wealth without scrutiny. On October 19, 1986, the unthinkable had happened, the military junta had allegedly assassinated Giwa via a parcel bomb. Giwa’s death hit Nigeria and Nigerians, especially the media industry, to the marrows. The death of Giwa was to send signals to other daring and investigative journalists in the country that negative reports about the junta must be done with utmost carefulness.
The circumstances that surrounded Giwa’s death had remained shrouded in secrecy, but all accusing fingers had pointed to Generate Babangida whose military regime had an axe to grind with the publisher and his medium. The military rulership under Babangida did not defend itself against the allegation, fueling the speculation that Babangida may have been guilty of Giwa’s death as alleged. After almost 40 years of Giwa’s assassination, the man at the center of Giwa’s death, Babangida, is yet to state in clear terms who sent the parcel bomb, which was exclusively in the possession of the military, to the Newswatch publisher.
Who Killed Dele Giwa? would remain a lingering question that would haunt Babangida as long as he lives. The damning question and numerous others that quaked the country during his military rule, including the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election perceived to have been won by late MKO Abiola, may have forced Babangida out his shell for a whole 39 years to defend himself against these lingering issues.
Babangida had stunned millions of Nigerians on Thursday, February 20, 2025 when he revealed through his autobiography entitled, “A journey In Service”, that neither himself nor the government he presided as the military Head of State was responsible for the gruesome assassination of Giwa. At the public presentation of the work of authorship, Babangida said, “The hysteria of the media did not help investigation of the Giwa murder.
“As a typical of Nigerian media, the direction was marked by an adversarial attitude towards the government which had remained the Hallmark of 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 to be guilty even before the evidence in a case is adduced.
“When the (Olusegun) 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 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”.
At the book launch Babangida admitted the responsibility for annulled June 12, 1993 presidential election as the Head of State, but heaped the blame on the late General Sanni Abacha to have been behind the annulment.
Since Babangida’s denial of his knowledge of who Killed the erudite journalist, many have challenged him to come up with a clue on what his government found out was responsible for the death of Giwa or who packaged and delivered the parcel bomb to the late media icon.
The Executive Director of the Centre for Free Speech Organization, Richard Akinnola, accused Babangida of lying over the assassination of Giwa. In a statement issued by Akinnola last week, he said he was not surprised that Babangida would deny knowledge of how Giwa was murdered because, according to him, one would not expect an armed robber charged to court to plead guilty of his offence.
Akinnola accused Babangida of doublespeak because when he was invited by the Oputa Panel he shunned appearance to clear his name. Again, Akinnola stated that a Commissioner of Police at the time, Abubakar Tsav who was assigned to investigate the death of Giwa, had indicted Babangida in the report of his investigation.
Akinnola in the statement titled, “Dele Giwa, IBB Lied”, said, “I can understand the denial of General Ibrahim Babangida of his guilt over the murder of Dele Giwa. It is expected. Have you seen an armed robbery suspect charged to court pleading guilty in court? It is a matter of self-preservation.
“Even Major Gideon Orkar, who announced on radio the ouster of Babangida in the abortive coup of April 22, 1990, pleaded not guilty before the military tribunal. So, Babangida’s denial of his government’s involvement in the murder is understandable.
“However, in doing that, he doesn’t have that latitude of revisionism by deliberately misrepresenting facts. I make reference to two of such.
“In his book, General Babangida made two major false assertions regarding the letter bomb murder of Dele Giwa, founding Editor-in-Chief of Newswatch.
“It’s either those who wrote the book for him didn’t have the facts, or that IBB was just being mischievous”.
Also, countering Babangida’s feigning of ignorance of Giwa’s death, Akinnola stated further, “Still on Dele Giwa, General Babangida said in his book, ‘When the Obasanjo civilian administration reopened the Giwa case at 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’.
“Response: “Invitation was extended to Babangida by the Oputa Panel, he shunned it, he was wrong to state that the police and lawyers didn’t come up with a new thing at Oputa Panel.
“At Oputa Panel, Abubakar Tsav, Commissioner of Police(retd) gave evidence on oath that he was assigned to investigate the case, and at the end of his investigation, his findings pointed to the Babangida government, and that he submitted his findings to DIG Chris Omeben.
“Also, contrary to what IBB said in his book that no fresh evidence came up, the issue of Gloria Okon came up during the hearing.
“Having said these, it’s either those who wrote the book for him didn’t get their facts right or that General Babangida was being mischievous in what he wrote in the book regarding the murder Dele Giwa.
“It is even deceitful to be referring to Dele Giwa as your good friend; from where to where? If you could execute your childhood friend, Mamman Vatsa, who then is Dele Giwa, who you only met in the course of his official duties as a journalist? Dele Giwa was not your friend, General”.
Babangida would have denied knowledge of the assassination of Giwa despite huge evidence to the contrary, but his critics continue to tell him that he would go into the grave at old age with a guilty conscience and being haunted by the blood of the slain Giwa unless he comes out publicly to confess and tender public apologies to the family of his alleged victim.
