Assassination
According to Giwa's friend, colleague and neighbour Mr Ray Ekpu, Giwa had been invited by the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) in September 1986, during this invitation Giwa was questioned by Col. Haliru Akilu, the Director of the agency about an alleged discussion he had with some people about arms importation. In an off the record interview with airport journalists, Lt. Col. A.K Togun, the Deputy Director of the State Security Service SSS had claimed that on 9 October Dele Giwa and Alex Ibru had organized a media parley for media executives and the newly created SSS. Togun claimed that it was at this meeting that the SSS and the media executives reached a secret censorship agreement. Under this agreement, the media was to report any story with potential to embarrass the government to the SSS before they tried to publish same.
According to Ray Ekpu, SSS officials summoned Giwa to their headquarters on 16 October 1986, Ekpu accompanied him to the SSS headquarters at 15 Awolowo road Ikoyi for the interview but was asked to wait outside the interview. Lt. Col Togun, accused Giwa and Newswatch of planning to write the “other side” of the story on Ebitu Ukiwe who was removed as Chief of the General Staff, to General Babangida. The magazine had published a cover story titled: Power Games: Ukiwe loses out in its October 20 edition which was on sale on October 13, 1986. Ekpu claimed Giwa had also been questioned in the September interview at the DMI about an article he wrote on the Second-tier Foreign Exchange Market (SFEM) where he argued that “SFEM must succeed otherwise those in government would be stoned in the streets”. Ekpu commented that Togun had said that he didn’t find this particular article offensive because Babangida was determined to make SFEM work. Togun also accused Giwa of planning to import arms into the country for a Socialist revolution in collusion with the Nigeria Labour Congress, the Academic Staff Union of Universities and students. Togun also accused Giwa of claiming to have promised that Newswatch would employ the suspended police public relations officer, Alozie Ogugbuaja who had accused the army of being idle and of doing nothing other than drink pepper soup which he averred gave them enough time to plan coups. Ogugbuaja claims that on 16 October 1986, a bomb was defused by the police bomb squad at his official residence at 19, Oba Akinjobi street, GRA, Ikeja Lagos. Ogugbuaja also said that he suspected that his phone might have been bugged by the DMI because Giwa and Ray Ekpu in one of their telephone conversations with him had indeed promised to employ him in Newswatch if the police dismissed him.
Giwa reported the interrogations to his friend Prince Tony Momoh who was then the Minister of Communications, Giwa had told Momoh that he feared for his life because of the weight of the accusations levelled against him. According to Ekpu, Momoh "dismissed it as a joke and said the security men just wanted to rattle him"; Momoh promised to look into the matter. On 18 October Giwa also spoke to Admiral Augustus Aikhomu, the Chief of General Staff who said he was familiar with the matter and also promised to look into it.
Later on 18 October, a day before the bombing, a staff of the DMI had phoned Giwa's house and asked for his office phone number from his wife Funmi. This same person from the DMi later called back to say he couldn't reach Giwa at the office and then put Col Akilu on the line. Ekpu alleges that Akilu asked Giwa's wife for driving directions to the house and when she asked him why he needed the directions he explained that he wasn't very familiar with Ikeja, he also offered that the President's ADC had something for Giwa, probably an invitation. According to Ekpu this didn't come as a surprise because Giwa had received advance copies of the President's speeches in the past.
On 19 October, Giwa phoned Akilu to ask why he had been calling his house the previous day, Akilu was alleged to have explained that he only wanted to tell Giwa that the matter had been resolved. Ekpu says Giwa replied Akilu that it wasn't over and that he had already informed his lawyer, Chief Gani Fawehinmi to follow up on the matter. Akilu then told Giwa that there was no need for that, that it wasn't a matter for lawyers and that he should consider the matter resolved.
About 40 minutes after the telephone conversation with Akilu, two men in a white Pegeout 504 saloon car delivered a package to Giwa's guard who handed same over to Giwa's son Billy. Billy handed the package to Giwa who was sitting at the dining table having a discussion with Mr. Kayode Soyinka the London Bureau Chief of Newswatch. The package exploded, mortally wounded Giwa and temporarily deafening Soyinka who had excused himself to the rest room shortly before Giwa was supposed to have attempted opening the package. Giwa, in pain, still conscious but badly burnt was rushed to the hospital where he eventually died from his wounds.
Read more about this topic: Dele Giwa