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Ever since Nigerians woke up to the shocking news of the assassination of Dele Giwa, former editor of Newswatch Magazine, there have been numerous publications and newspaper releases asking questions and postulating theories as to whodunnit and why. The Murder of Dele Giwa: Cover-up: Revelations, the most recent of such publications is made possible through new developments over the years since it happened and also in view of the fifteenth anniversary of the brutal murder.

The publication is a compilation of all the relevant facts regarding Giwa's murder: when and how it happened, the account of eye witnesses and of those whose job it was then to either investigate or to make a ruling in court about it. It also takes into account the circumstances surrounding the murder, that is, "the why of it", and without mincing words, names the prime suspects, following from the evidence given by former Police Commissioner, Alhaji (Chief) Abubakar Tsav,CP (Rtd), at the Human Rights' Violation Investigation Commission, headed by Justice Chukwudifu Oputa.

Unlike many other publications on this issue, The Murder... does not ask any questions, rather the author, Richard Akinnola carefully and meticulously prepares and gathers related documents and facts arising from the 38 court cases involving Dele Giwa's murder, having covered it in various capacities as an investigative journalist and as a human rights activist.

Akinnola writes in his introduction that "I have reasonable suspicion that he was killed by the Babangida junta..." One may say that this has never been in doubt but in the light of the revelations at the panel and the boldness which democracy inspires, statements like these can now be made openly and without fear. The evidence in the book, apart from Tsav's testimony overwhelmingly points out who the culprits are. Take for instance, the statement of Billy Giwa, Dele Giwa's son, that his father suggested to him days before the murder that his life might be in danger; that on the day of the murder he received the parcel bomb which had "From the Office of the C-inC" written on it, a statement corroborated by Mrs Funmi Giwa, Dele Giwa's wife.

Again, Mrs Giwa in her own statement, says that Col. Halilu Akilu (Rtd), a prime suspect according to the evidence, kept calling their home, asking for directions and also about the likelihood of her husband being at home at a particular time. She says he was the last person to speak to her husband on the phone before the bombing.

Kayode Soyinka's statement was not much different in content. The parcel was brought into the study by Giwa's son, it had "From the Office of the C-in-C" written on it and had a sticker with The Nigerian Coat of Arms in a corner of the well-paded parcel, but more significantly, as the only eye witness, he heard Giwa himself acknowledge from whom the parcel came: "this must be from the president", Giwa said, and minutes after, there was the explosion.

All the cases involving this murder show the plight of a seeming lone crusader, Gani Fawehinmi, to whom the book is dedicated, and who, over the years, has unceasingly led the pursuit for the prosecution of the suspects. The most confounding of the initial cases was the prosecution of Akilu and Togun Charge No. ID/4C/88:

"In view of the order granted by Justice Olusola Thomas (now late) of the Lagos High Court on January 11, 1998, directing the Lagos Attorney General's Office to decide whether or not to prosecute the security chiefs, the Lagos State Attorney General, Mrs Eniola Fadayomi indicated her intention to prosecute the two security chiefs, and the case was heard by justice Eniola Longe of the Ikeja High Court. The accused persons were absent in court, their pleas were not taken as no charges were read by their counsel, Chief Rotimi Williams, who raised a preliminary objection to the charge. Curiously, the supposed prosecutor, the Lagos State Attorney-General, supported Chief Williams' application. After legal battles between Chief Williams and Fawehinmi, Justice Longe struck out the suit and Fawehinmi went on appeal."

This is one of 38 cases, ten of which are published in Chapter 6, under The Legal Battles Over Dele Giwa, showing again Chief Fawehinmi's struggle to bring to book the perpetrators of the crime, and also the Babangida Government's complicity with the judicial system in the concealment of the facts relating to the bombing, and the attempts by the junta to suppress the voices which spoke against the entire system.

Who is Gloria Okon?, the seventh and last chapter, gives a bit of an insight into the person of Gloria Okon, an alleged drug courier who Dele Giwa told his lawyer, Chief Fawehinmi, that he was investigating. Her unedited statements to the Customs and Excise Department after she was apprehended are also published. Gloria Okon later died mysteriously in custody.

The Murder... is a great and monumental book, but the publishers might have done well in being more euphemistic about the blood and gore of the cover photo, which makes people cringe with distaste on seeing it. That the public must not forget the tragedy as a point is understandable, but the book is meant to be a collector's item, to be shelved for constant reference in future by lawyers, activists and even students, and this should be considered, since people recomending the book for use may regard such as offensive, especially as regards students and younger readers.

Subsequent editions of the book should also as a matter of priority, take into consideration the typographical errors: errors relating to typesetting and paging. Richard Akinnola has taken a timely step in rousing the pathologically forgetful Nigerians from their slumber, and pushing the authorities involved, and the Lagos State House of Assembly to the re-ammendment of the law restoring the right to private prosecution (which was allegedly revoked solely as a deterent to the pursuant of the Dele Giwa-cases), as a matter of public policy.

The Murder of Dele Giwa: Cover-up: Revelations is a publication of Human Rights Publications (Rich Consult), Ikeja, Lagos.