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Giwa: Lawyers Task FG On Extra-Judicial Killings
Some Lagos-based lawyers have urged the Federal Government to bring to book perpetrators of extra-judicial killings in the country to boost confidence in the judiciary.
They spoke on Wednesday in Lagos at a service to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Dele Giwa’s assassination.
Our correspondent reports that Giwa, the founding editor of Newswatch magazine, was murdered through a parcel bomb on Oct. 19, 1986.
Albert Fidel, who is also a human rights activist, said that Giwa’s assassination opened the way for a series of other extra-judicial killings, which had yet be unravelled.
“Right after Dele Giwa’s death, it became increasingly impossible to hold anybody culpable for institutional murders; we have yet to find the killers of Bola Ige, Harry Marshal, Funso Williams, Dipo Dina and the rest.
“It is sad that Nigerians cannot even get justice for these killings; the police have not made any arrest; nothing has been done to ensure justice. It is a pathetic condition.”
According to lawyer, Mr Goke Olakuleyin, Giwa’s assassination emboldened the culture of impunity and criminality in Nigeria.
“Giwa represents several Nigerians, whose lives have been wasted. It is sad that 25 years after, we have yet to fish out his killers; this has led to the recurring decimal of criminality in our country.
“People feel they can do anything and get away with it; it is so sad that Nigerians are now so bold to commit crimes.”
Mr Kabiru Akingbolu described Giwa’s murder as a watershed in the history of brutality and insecurity in Nigeria.
“It would remain evergreen in the memory of Nigerians; no doubt, there are several unresolved deaths like Alfred Rewane, Bola Ige, a justice minister who never got justice,” Akingbolu said.