By Zik Gbemre
It is often said that ‘Justice delayed is Justice denied’, and one of the unjust act committed in this country that has refused to die despite all the efforts in ‘high places’ to have it swept under the carpet; was the question of “who killed Dele Giwa?” And what has been done to see that those who committed this UNGODLY act are made to face the full wrath of the law. Like a open-wound that has refused to heal, the question of ‘who killed Dele Giwa?’ has continued to re-echo once in a while in national discuss. We believe that until this question of who killed Dele Giwa is answered and those responsible for the bastardly act are brought to book, it will continue to rear its head and paint the nation bad amongst the international community.
Dele Giwa, the founding Editor-in-Chief of Newswatch Magazine, was killed through a parcel bomb at his Ikeja, Lagos residence on Oct. 19, 1986. Twenty-nine years after the murder of the renowned journalist, a retired Police Chief, Chris Omeben, who conducted the investigation, has recently spoken out about the unresolved murder, calling it the most frustrating case of his career. Omeben, a former Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIG), who turns 80 on Oct. 27, expressed that the high profile investigation was marred by interferences from “high places”. The former DIG explained that even when he had narrowed in on the principal suspect, who could have thrown more light on the riddle, the suspect was allowed to escape from Nigeria.
As expected, the recent “revelations“ by Omeben, insinuating in one breathe that Dele Giwa’s assassination via a parcel bomb may have been remotely connected to his “unhealthy relations with his “estranged wife” and in the next breathe named Kayode Soyinka, Dele’s colleague who was the only survivor and eye witness of the dastardly act as the “prime suspect” has caught the ire of Senator Florence Ita-Giwa. In a statement signed by her Media Liaison Officer, Mr. Jonathan Eze, Ita-Giwa said Omeben’s claims were “indicative of a mind rapidly progressing into dementia.”
The statement reads in parts: “It is very possible that the aged former crime fighter is hallucinating on account of the blemish his shoddy handling of the case had cast on what might have been labeled an illustrious police career. Without a doubt, the “estranged wife” referred to by our deluded former police chief is none other than the Distinguished Senator Florence Ita-Giwa, who was once married to the late Dele Giwa. At the risk of sounding impetuous, it would appear that the former detective turned clergy man is now clutching at straws in a puerile attempt to cover up his crass incompetence with regard to the case. The pendulum of suspicion about the identity of the killers has always swung in one direction and is well known by anyone who was around at the time the heinous act occurred.”
Even Mr Ray Ekpu, one of the four co-founders of the Newswatch magazine and a member of the 2014 National Conference, stated his own version about Mr. Omeben’s relevations. In Ekpu’s words: “That is a blatant lie because the police interviewed Kayode Soyinka twice and there was no compulsion about it. There was no reluctance on his part. The Police never asked Kayode Soyinka to come for a third interview. He was here for two months between the time that Dele Giwa died and the time Dele Giwa was buried. And he still stayed around before he left for London where he was our correspondent. He was not working in Nigeria, it was the Dele Giwa matter that kept him for two months. And of course, the company could not afford to lose the services of this prime correspondent. He was the only correspondent for the company in the UK for that period. He left through the airport. The police knew he was leaving and they didn’t arrest him, they didn’t call him. A week or two after he left, it was curious they wrote a letter to us asking us to produce him that they wanted to interview him again. We responded and informed them that the man left and we gave the address and telephone number of Kayode Soyinka. We don’t know if they later got in touch with him or not. Police all over the world are international, they have their links, they have INTERPOL. What Chris Omeben is saying is clearly an after-thought.”
On Omeben’s comments that Soyinka was a prime suspect, who was with Dele Giwa when the parcel bomb was brought but went to hide in an adjoining room before the explosion, Ekpu stated that: “Mr Omeben does not know the facts of the matter. They were sitting in Dele Giwa’s study. They were having breakfast in the study. Soyinka was sitting opposite Dele. And Dele received the parcel from his son, placed it on his laps and was trying to open it when it detonated. Kayode was thrown on the floor and his ears were perforated, for many months he lost his hearing. So, he did not run into any room because there was no next room. I have seen reports saying he ran from the dining room to the kitchen. It did not happen in the dining room, it happened in the study. I know the geography of that building because I lived on the other side, two wings of a duplex built the same way. Omeben does not know the facts of the situation that is why he is making all these speculations. The police men came there after that incident and they did not say it was at his dining room or anything like that. It is absolutely false.”
For us, whatever the case may be, it is obvious that there is need for the Nigerian Government to unearth the gruesome murder of Dele Giwa and see that those behind the act are made to face the full wrath of the law, no matter how highly placed they are. No doubt, the way and manner Dele Giwa was killed during the military era of Gen. Ibrahim Babaginda, can said to be the ‘first terrorism’ act in this country. And it was, and still is believed that the letter bomb blast that killed Dele Giwa was the mastermind of the then Babangida military intelligence. In fact, it was the ‘fear’ of the then military era that brought about the famous ‘open-ended’ question of “who killed Dele Giwa?” The late Afro-beat legend Fela Kuti also made a song about it; which created the impression that it was obvious who really killed Dele Giwa but nobody was bold enough to point fingers and say anything for fear of being killed as well.
Now that it is almost three decades since the unfortunate incident took place, one would have expected that by now, those that were involved and still living, especially those who really know what happened, should provided the needed evidence and for the government to address this murder case once and for all. But all we are seeing presently are conflicting reports of what actually happened on that day of the letter bomb blast. But like we said, whatever the case might be, it is important and imperative for the present Muhammadu Buahri Government and relevant Security Authorities, as well as those in the Criminal Justice System, to take steps to address the Dele Giwa murder case once and for all.
For those of us who were ardent readers of the Newswatch Magazine until that gruesome murder in October 1986, the recent revelations by Chris Omeben is hurtfully igniting a painful memory and adding salt to a gaping injury. Dele Giwa’s blood is still crying for justice, and the present government should ensure that justice is served.
Some of us can still recall when the news came that day in October 1986. It was one of the saddest days in the lives of most Nigerians in the media. Many cried for our beloved Dele Giwa, and wondered what he did that demanded such horrifying and wicked death in the hands of those who suppose to secure him as a Nigerian citizen. If Dele Giwa was to be based abroad, doing his journalism work, we are very sure he would still be living and be known all over the world and celebrated as a Nigerian icon. Killing such a fine brilliant man like Dele Giwa without remorse, and up till today there is no clue of who killed him, indicates how flawed the Nigerian Security Operatives system has become. There are no civilized people that can accept that from any authority except in Nigeria. It is only ‘righteousness’ (as the Holy writ says) that can keep a nation in continuous existence. Search history and find out where the old wicked empires are gone – the Assyrians, the Babylonian, the Roman and Othman empires are evidence of the demise of wicked nations. Though, it takes long, like TIME you won’t see or be able to measure how it progresses or how it gets close to an end, because no wicked act would go unpunished. No nation or its leaders can be more powerful than the Creator that created the nations and promised He would judge them. Dele Giwa’s blood cries like that of Abel in the Bible.
A very good investigative journalist would have done Nigerians good favour by bringing all the facts that pointed to Dele Giwa’s suspect. Some of the questions Nigerians should be asking are who could make letter bomb and deliver it precisely without government involvement? Is letter bomb all that easy to make that ordinary citizen can just lay their hands on it? Why is Omeben coming out now to tell us facts that cannot be corroborated in any way?
This is one of the problems with Nigeria and Africa as a whole. We expect God to come down to the earth and do everything for us. Why didn’t past Governments reopen the case? Cold cases in the UK and America of 50 years or more are constantly being reopened whilst culprits or perpetrators are apprehended and justice is served. The Nigerian security operatives especially the Police must wake up to its responsibility in the 21st century and redeem the long battered image of the country. The case should be reopened at all cost and addressed once and for all.
Zik Gbemre, JP.
National Coordinator
Niger Delta Peace Coalition (NDPC)
