Thirty – eight years after Nigeria’s celebrated journalist, Mr. Dele Giwa was killed through a parcel bomb, a federal high court in Abuja on Friday ordered the Federal Government to reopen investigation and prosecution over the murder of the late editor .

Mr. Giwa who was the founding editor-in-chief of Newswatch Magazine, was killed in his Ikeja, Lagos residence on October 19, 1986. The court also ordered the federal government of Nigeria to take measures to prevent attacks on journalists and other media practitioners.

Delivering judgment in a suit filed by Media Rights Agenda (MRA) against the Federal Government, represented by the Attorney-General of the Federation, Justice Inyang Ekwo upheld the organization’s claim that by failing to guarantee the safety of journalists and other media practitioners in accordance with Principle 20 of the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa, the Federal Government breached its statutory duty under the Declaration and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act (Cap A9), Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

The judge also ruled that the Federal Government bears responsibility and is accordingly liable for the actions and conduct of law enforcement, security, intelligence, military and other officials and agents that threaten, undermine or violate the rights and safety of journalists and other media practitioners. He also ordered the restart of investigations into unresolved cases of extra-judicial killing of other journalists in the country.

In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1301/2021, MRA sought the enforcement of fundamental rights of media practitioners to safety as guaranteed by the 1999 Constitution, as amended, as well as the African Charter on Human & Peoples Rights.

MRA named some of the murdered journalists, including the late Editor-in-Chief of Newswatch magazine, Mr. Dele Giwa, who was killed on October 19, 1986 by a parcel bomb in his home in Lagos; Ms Bolade Fasasi, a member of the National Association of Women Journalists and former treasurer of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), who was shot dead by three unidentified gunmen in Ibadan on March 31, 1998; Mr. Edward Olalekan Ayo-Ojo, who was found dead beside his car on a road in Lagos in the early hours of June 1, 1999; and Mr. Omololu Falobi, a former features editor of The Punch and founder of the media advocacy group, Journalists Against AIDS (JAAIDS), who was gunned down on October 5, 2006, as he left his office in Lagos.

The others are Mr. Godwin Agbroko, the Chairman of the Editorial Board of This Day newspaper, who was murdered by unknown gunmen on December 22, 2006; Mr. Abayomi Ogundeji, a member of the Editorial Board of This Day newspaper, who was shot dead on August 17, 2008; and Mr. Edo Sule-Ugbagwu, Judicial Correspondent of The Nation newspaper, who was murdered in his home in a Lagos suburb by a gang of armed men on April 24 2010.

Reading his judgement on Friday, Justice Ekwo said:”I have studied the response of the respondent to the averments of the applicant and I find the said averments to be generic in nature and they do not controvert the case of the applicant specifically”.

“The applicant has stated names of journalists killed in Paragraph J of the affidavit in support. It is pertinent to note that the respondent has neither denied that these killings have taken place or that these persons were not journalists or media practitioners.

“The position of the law is that affidavit evidence which is not challenged or controverted, howsoever, is deemed admitted and can be relied upon by a court.

“An order is hereby made directing the federal government of Nigeria to take measures to prevent attacks on journalists and other media practitioners.

“An order is hereby made directing the federal government of Nigeria to investigate, prosecute and punish perpetrators of all attacks against journalists and other media practitioners, and ensure that all victims of attacks against journalists have access to effective remedies.

“An order is hereby made directing the federal government to take measures to raise awareness and build the capacities of various stakeholders, particularly journalists and other media practitioners, policymakers, law enforcement, security, intelligence, military as well as other officials and relevant stakeholders on the laws and standards for ensuring the safety of journalists and media practitioners”, he stressed.

In his judgment, Justice Ekwo noted that given the special role that journalists play in the society, they ought to be protected and not put at risk. He accordingly declared the killing of the journalists as a violation of their fundamental right to life under section 33 of the 1999 Constitution and Article 4 of the African Charter and held that their killing while carrying out their journalistic duties was a violation of their right to freedom of expression and the press under section 39 of the Constitution and Article 9 of the African Charter.

He also declared that the failure of the Federal Government to fulfil its statutory and treaty obligations to guarantee their safety in accordance with Principle 20 of the Declaration of Principles amounts to a violation of the Declaration and a breach of the statutory duty imposed on the Government by the African Charter.