Criminal matters do not die. From time to time, the government should be updating the case file (of Dele Giwa’s murder). The government should not close the file.
It should assign investigators to look at it; maybe new angles to the case could come up. In other parts of the world, there had been crimes committed over 50 years back and solutions were found later.
That is why the Nigerian government should not let Dele Giwa’s case die.
If the perpetrators are eventually brought to book, it will show that our system is working. And it will tell anybody that, crime, no matter how long it is, the perpetrator(s) could be detected. It will also create a lot of confidence in our system.
I read it in The PUNCH Newspaper today (Thursday) that one of his (Dele Giwa’s) younger brothers says he knows some of the persons that carried out the act. I believe the Federal Government can revisit that case.
Such a brother should be summoned and be interviewed with a view to arresting the person whom he claims he knows in respect of the crime that was committed. That is number one.
Number two, I am aware that there is no time limitation as to criminal cases. So, the case can be revisited if the government is ready; there is nothing like statute barred when it comes to criminal cases.
With the way the Federal Government is going about curbing crimes and corruption in the country, the government, through the Attorney General’s office, should revisit the case so that the family can get justice by bringing the perpetrators to book.
I do not think the case of Dele Giwa’s murder should remain inconclusive the way it has been. As long as the case remains inconclusive, it is a threat to journalism and journalists. So, the needful should be done. It is done in developed countries. A case of 70 years will be dispensed; even those who had died would be accorded justice. Dele Giwa’s case should not be an exemption. This is more important because of the fact that Dele Giwa represented the best of what our democracy stands for in terms of dedication, commitment to public duty and professionalism. Such a bundle of talent should not be allowed to die like that. The case should be dug up, resolved and justice should be dispensed appropriately.
I do not think the country does not have good investigative apparatus; I believe there is no political will to actually investigate the matter. Nigerians excel all over the world in their various callings. There is no doubt about the quality of human resources that Nigeria has. I think the fundamental problem has been our attitude; lack of political will; people trying to cover up others. But I believe in the spirit of this present government which has zero tolerance for corruption. Covering the case up is also a form of corruption. We have enough resources to investigate the case.
Our officials are well trained; they go for courses and training abroad. Investigators should be given access to vital information that will allow them to work without fearing any political repercussion.
It is a shame that 30 years after Dele Giwa’s assassination by parcel bomb, the case has not been addressed nor solved by the successive governments in Nigeria. It is a bigger shame that Dele Giwa’s murder, other murders like those of Bola Ige, who was gruesomely murdered in his house in Ibadan (Oyo State) and Harry Mashal have not been resolved. They lost their lives during the anti-military campaign.
People lost their lives either in the course of fighting for power or trying to reclaim a democratic mandate or doing journalism for the sake of making Nigeria a better place. It is a big shame that all these murders remain a puzzle till date and the successive governments have paid lip service to unravel these outrageous murders and cases of assassination.
If the government wants to show it is serious about security, it should look into the past and bring to justice the perpetrators of these heinous crimes. If they are not caught and brought to justice, other people will believe that crime pays; whereas it does not. It is a big dent on the image of this country locally and internationally that we have unresolved murders.
In the Western world, cold cases are usually dealt with accordingly to make sure that the perpetrators, who even if they are 75-year-old now but were 20-year-old when they committed the crime, are brought to justice according to the criminal justice system of that country. That is what I want the Nigerian government to do in this regard. It is never too late.
Sequel to protracted time period on the Dele Giwa’s murder case, I candidly consider the matter compromised and would wish that the sensibilities of the family members are not further assaulted by the reopening of the matter. Except the family and those concerned desire to have the case reopened, I strongly believe that time and space would have healed the fatal wound inflicted on the family and on our national psychic by those trusted with leadership responsibility.
Time has the supreme ability to heal and has the potential of allowing the about 100 laws of nature to take its full course. If I remember vividly, the instrument of state was used to terminate the life of the vibrant pioneer Newswatch magazine entrepreneur, and so the individuals that were involved carry a bigger burden of taking another’s life. One of the laws of nature is sowing and reaping. The law can never change, and reaping is more bountiful, so for one minute, just imagine what is going on right now with those individuals, that is if they are still alive or their children and their so-called prosperity.
Honestly. I think the best way of resolving this case is to institute some social and tourism activities in honour of this fallen great journalist, thereby keeping his memory alive and this way, a disease called Saul syndrome will reduce these “too big to jail” big men in Nigeria to their eternal abyss.
I think the government should just forget the matter and let the soul of Dele Giwa continue to live in the Lord’s vineyard. The murder happened during Ibrahim Babangida’s regime. We should not be bringing it up now. It is a crucial exercise. It will end up nolle prosequi.
The ministry of justice will come up with a verdict at the end of it all that the case should not be prosecuted. Many people, who were there when that bomb took off, will not come forward if they are called to give evidence.
They won’t give any evidence. One of the persons with Dele Giwa on that day said when the bomb took off, the shock and fear he had threw him near the door and that when he got up, he couldn’t remember the person who brought the parcel (bomb). When you cannot trace the person who brought it, can you trace where it came from? What has happened to Dele Giwa is ungodly but nothing will come up out of the investigation.
Compiled by Afeez Hanafi and Ramon Oladimeji
No comments:
Post a Comment