A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the federal government, through the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice (AGF), to re-open the investigation and prosecution of those who murdered the founder of Newswatch Magazine, Dele Giwa, in 1986.
Dele Giwa was murdered on October 19, 1986, in his Lagos office through a letter bomb.
Delivering judgment on Friday in a suit against the AGF, Justice Inyang Edem Ekwo held the Chief Law Officer of the federation is under obligation to prosecute and penalize 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 laws.
The Incorporated Trustees of Media Rights Agenda dragged the AGF before the court to enforce the fundamental rights of media practitioners to safety as guaranteed by the 1999 Constitution and African Charters on Human Rights.
Justice Ekwo, in the judgment, ordered the federal government to ensure adequate protection and safety of the lives of journalists as enshrined in sections 33 and 39 of the Constitution and Articles 4 and 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights.