Former military president General Ibrahim Babangida (retd.) has denied any connection to the assassination of Dele Giwa, the veteran journalist and Editor-in-Chief of Newswatch, who was killed by a parcel bomb on October 19, 1986. Giwa was a prominent critic of Babangida’s military regime.
Days before his death, Giwa faced serious accusations from a senior official of the Directorate of Military Intelligence, who claimed he was illegally importing arms to incite a socialist revolution in Nigeria. Concerned about this charge, Dele Giwa consulted his lawyer, Gani Fawehinmi. The following day, Colonel Halilu Akilu, a security chief, contacted Giwa to clarify that the accusations were a misunderstanding that had been resolved, advising him to dismiss the matter.
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On the day of the bombing, a parcel bearing the seal of the Presidency and marked “To be opened by addressee only” arrived at Dele Giwa’s Ikeja home. His son, Billy, handed the package to Giwa while he was dining with Kayode Soyinka, the London correspondent for Newswatch.
In his recently released autobiography, A Journey in Service, Babangida reflected on the unsolved nature of Giwa’s murder. He criticized the media’s approach to the case, stating, “The hysteria of the media did not help the investigation… The adversarial attitude towards the government has been a hallmark of the Nigerian media.” Babangida expressed disappointment that no new evidence had emerged during the reopening of the case by the Obasanjo administration at the Oputa Panel on Human and Civil Rights. “The Giwa case, like many mysterious murders, remains unresolved,” he lamented.
The autobiography was launched alongside Babangida’s new presidential library, an event attended by notable figures including President Bola Tinubu, former presidents, and influential business leaders. Former Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo and former Sierra Leonean President Ernest Koroma were among the keynote speakers, joined by governors, industrialists, and traditional rulers.
