Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court Abuja has directed the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice to resume the inquiry and legal action against those responsible for the assassination of Newswatch Magazine’s founder, Dele Giwa, in 1986.
In his ruling, Justice Ekwo declared that the AGF has a duty to prosecute and impose penalties on individuals who murder journalists in Nigeria.
Mr. Dele Giwa was killed on October 19, 1986, at his Lagos office by a letter bomb.
Furthermore, the court mandated that the homicides of other journalists killed while performing their official duties should be thoroughly investigated and the culprits prosecuted in accordance with legal statutes.
Justice Ekwo also instructed the Federal Government to guarantee the security and protection of journalists’ lives as stipulated in sections 33, 39 of the Constitution and Articles 4 and 9 of the African Charters on Human and Peoples Rights.
The Incorporated Trustees of Media Rights Agenda (MRA) had initiated a lawsuit against the AGF at the court, seeking the enforcement of media practitioners’ fundamental rights to safety as protected by the 1999 Constitution and the African Charters on Human Rights.