A Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday has ordered the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice (AGF) to re-open inquiry and prosecution of those found wanting in the gruesome murder of Dele Giwa, in 1986.
Giwa, the founder of News Watch, was killed on October 19, 1986 in his Lagos office through a letter bomb.
Giving judgement on Friday in a suit against the AGF, Justice Inyang Edem Ekwo held that the Chief Law Officer of the Federation was under obligation to bring to book the killers of media practitioners in the country.
Apart from Dele Giwa, the court ordered that the killings of other journalists in the discharge of their lawful duties must be investigated and perpetrators brought to book in line with the provisions of the law.
The Incorporated Trustees of Media Rights Agenda, MRA, had dragged the AGF through the court for the enforcement of fundamental rights of media professionals to safety as guaranteed by the 1999 Constitution and African Charters on Human Rights.
Justice Ekwo in the judgement ordered the Federal Government to ensure adequate protection and safety of lives of journalists as enshrined in sections 33, 39 of the Constitution and Articles 4 and 9 of the African Charters on Human and Peoples Rights.
