Assassination Of Newswatch Editor-In-Chief: Yakubu Mohammed Speaks On IBB, Dele Giwa, Gloria Okon, Issues Around Parcel Bomb

Yakubu Mohammed, one of the founding editors and directors of Newswatch, has finally opened up on the assassination of Dele Giwa, the editor-in-chief of arguably Nigeria’s most successful weekly newsmagazine.

According to TheCable, nearly 39 years after Giwa was killed by a parcel bomb on October 19, 1986, Mohammed has dismissed the widespread conspiracy linking the tragedy to the mysterious case of Gloria Okon, a young Nigerian woman who allegedly died in police custody as a drug courier for the powers-that-be.

The Gloria Okon Rumour

After Okon’s arrest in Kano, the grapevine suggested she died mysteriously because she was about to reveal names that would have implicated then military president, Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (IBB), and his wife, Maryam.

Another version of the rumour claimed that Okon did not die but was secretly flown to the UK. Giwa, it was alleged, had discovered her whereabouts, travelled to London to interview her, and was about to publish the story when he was assassinated.

The theory gained traction when Abubakar Tsav, the senior police officer who investigated Giwa’s murder, appeared before the Human Rights Violations Investigation Commission (Oputa Panel) in 2001 and seemed to lend credence to it.

“It Was All a Hoax”

Mohammed, however, insists that the Gloria Okon story was nothing but a distraction that fatally hindered a proper investigation.

In his upcoming memoir, Beyond Expectations, published by MayFive Media, Mohammed writes:

“And who, I must ask, killed Dele Giwa? This question that sounded sonorously like an anthem of sorrow when it was first asked pitifully across the country, and was sustained in nearly everybody’s lips for a long while, has remained the same today—even in its tamed and almost muted form, lacking in its original vigour and gravitas.

It has remained so because, nearly four decades after, the search for Giwa’s killers has not yielded any definitive results. And that is because the search had been mired in controversies, occasioned by sporadic eruptions of conspiracy theories—some more ridiculous and ludicrous than others, but conspiracy theories all the same.”

Mohammed stressed that at Newswatch, no such story on Okon was ever assigned, pursued, or even considered beyond a single dismissed suggestion at a general editorial conference.

“To start with, I know, for a fact, that Newswatch was not planning to do any story on Gloria Okon—not by any of our reporters, not by any of the editors, and not by any of the directors: Dele (Giwa), Ray (Ekpu), Dan (Agbese), and yours sincerely, Yakubu (Mohammed).”

He explained that the story only briefly surfaced when a new staff member, Bose Lasaki, raised it at a weekly meeting. After being asked to dig deeper, she returned the following week to admit there was nothing to it. “And that was the end of the matter,” Mohammed recalled.

Yet, after Giwa’s death, the “Okon angle” resurfaced with full force, wrongly tied to his last London trip.

The London Trip

Contrary to rumours that Giwa travelled to interview Okon, Mohammed—who was with him on that trip—said the visit was actually to see Ime Umanah, Newswatch’s chairman, who was receiving medical treatment in London.

“For about five days that we spent there, Dele did not leave my sight for a moment. We spent each day in the hospital until we travelled to Amsterdam, where we went to inspect a printing press we hoped to acquire. Kayode Soyinka, who normally played host to us, was in the USA on assignment.”

The Akilu Phone Calls

Another theory alleged that Colonel Haliru Akilu, director of military intelligence, phoned Giwa’s residence to confirm he was home before the bomb was delivered.

Mohammed recounts a different version:

“Before we left London, Umanah had advised Giwa to cultivate Akilu as a contact. On our return, Dele got to know him and even extracted a promise from him that security operatives would stop harassing us.

On the Friday before his death, after being interrogated by the SSS, Dele called Akilu but only managed to leave a message. Akilu returned the call on Saturday, speaking only to Dele’s wife, Funmi, who told him to try the office line.

On Sunday morning, the day of the tragedy, Dele himself called Akilu, who told him to regard the SSS matter as closed. Barely ten minutes later, the parcel was delivered. Conspiracy theorists concluded it was Akilu’s call that confirmed his presence at home. But the truth is more complex.”

Why Soyinka Was There

 

Kayode Soyinka, Newswatch’s London bureau chief, was at Giwa’s home when the bomb exploded. This, too, sparked suspicion.

Mohammed dismissed it:

“Soyinka always stayed with the Giwa family whenever he was in Nigeria. He was returning from a trip to the United States, where he had been exploring the possibility of printing an overseas edition of Newswatch. His stopover in Lagos was routine. Suggesting that he brought tapes of a fictitious Gloria Okon interview is utterly ridiculous.”

The Babangida Question

Mohammed also acknowledged the shadow of General Ibrahim Babangida over the tragedy.

“General Ibrahim Babangida, in and out of office, remains an enigma—a personality that people love or hate with equal passion. During the Giwa tragedy, some people who might have been rubbed the wrong way by his administration were ready to swear that nobody else but Babangida could have killed Dele Giwa.

While many genuine patriots pushed for accountability, others, who had an axe to grind, resorted to fabrications and narrowed the investigation to pre-determined outcomes. This is why Newswatch’s board publicly distanced itself from the narrow line being pursued by Gani Fawehinmi at the time.”

Almost four decades later, Mohammed laments, the truth remains buried under rumours and conjecture.

“The consolation, though, is that whatever is hidden from man is not hidden from God Almighty.”

© TheCable