Nigerian Guild of Editors Demands Fresh Probe into Dele Giwa’s Assassination Forty Years After Parcel Bomb Killing

The Nigerian Guild of Editors has called on security authorities to reopen the investigation into the assassination of Dele Giwa, the co-founder of Newswatch magazine, insisting that the passage of four decades must not extinguish the quest for justice.

Giwa was killed on October 19, 1986, by a parcel bomb delivered to his home in Ikeja, Lagos. No one has ever been brought to justice for the murder.

In a statement signed by President Eze Anaba and General Secretary Onuoha Ukeh, the Guild described the unresolved case as a painful test of Nigeria’s commitment to press freedom, public accountability and the rule of law.

“Forty years is a long time to wait for justice. It is an unconscionably long time for a nation that claims to uphold the rule of law,” the Guild said.

The editors urged authorities to examine any credible evidence still available, preserve relevant records and pursue every lawful avenue towards establishing the truth.

The Guild, however, cautioned against trial by media, stressing that its demand was for a credible investigation rather than the condemnation of anyone without evidence.

“We are not calling for trial by media. We are not asking anyone to be condemned without evidence. We are demanding that a grave crime against a Nigerian citizen, a distinguished journalist and the freedom of the press should not remain an enduring symbol of impunity,” it said.

The Guild described Giwa as a journalist of uncommon audacity, intellectual rigour and literary elegance, saying his work demonstrated that Nigerian journalism could interrogate power fearlessly while maintaining professional excellence.

It said his assassination was not merely the killing of an individual but an attack on the freedom to ask questions, expose wrongdoing and hold those in authority accountable.

The NGE warned against reducing Giwa’s memory to annual commemorations without concrete action.

“Remembrance without action risks becoming an elaborate way of accommodating injustice,” the Guild said.

The statement was issued as a book, Dele Giwa’s Granite Journalism, was unveiled in Lagos to preserve his writings and legacy.

The collection was compiled by Ray Ekpu, the only surviving member of the original Newswatch quartet, and features Giwa’s articles from the Daily Times, Sunday Concord and Newswatch alongside tributes from friends and contemporaries.

Ekpu, speaking at the book presentation, said Newswatch colleagues and the late human rights lawyer Gani Fawehinmi fought tirelessly for justice but without success.

“That incident turned our day into night and threw us into an abyss of grief. For four decades, his partners, family, and friends have wrestled with sorrow,” Ekpu said.

He recalled how his five-year-old son abandoned his ambition of becoming a journalist after Giwa’s killing, telling him: “Don’t want to be killed like Uncle Dele”.

The Guild called for Giwa’s professional ideals to be taught in journalism schools and discussed in newsrooms, stressing that press freedom was a public cause because attacks on journalists threatened citizens’ access to independent information.

“Dele Giwa is gone, but the questions his murder left behind remain alive. The man was silenced; the search for justice must not be,” the Guild said.