October 19, 1986: At around 11am, a parcel bomb explodes at Number 25, Talabi Street, Ikeja, Lagos, killing Dele Giwa, Editor-in-Chief and chief executive officer of Newswatch.
November 3, 1986: Gani Fawehinmi, Mr. Giwa’s lawyer serves notice to Lagos State Director of Public Prosecution, J. A. Oduneye to commence prosecution of Halilu Akilu and Ajibola Kunle Togun in connection with the death of the late Dele Giwa (Ibrahim Babangida was protected by immunity, as president).
November 7, 1986: Mr. Gani goes to court seeking an order compelling the Director of Public Prosecution to prosecute Mr. Akilu and Mr. Togun, failing which he (Gani) should be allowed to proceed as a private investigator.
November 19, 1986: the Lagos State Chief Judge, Candide Ademola Johnson, dismisses Mr. Gani’s application. Mr. Gani takes case to the Court of Appeal.
February 23 1987: the Court of Appeal dismisses Mr. Gani’s suit
December 18, 1987: a Supreme Court ruling grants Mr. Gani authority to act as private prosecutor in the event of the state failing to take action. In Mr. Gani’s words:
“It was a unanimous decision by the seven justices of the Supreme Court... (t)he apex court ruled that private citizen has a right to prosecute if those charged with the authority to do so will not.”
February 22, 1988: Eniola Fadayomi, the Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice files, before Justice Longe, a charge of murder against Mr. Akilu and Mr. Togun, who are absent from the court. Rotimi Williams, lawyer for the accused, argues that there is no evidence to link his clients to the murder of Mr. Giwa. Mrs. Fadayomi, who filed the charge, agrees with Williams.
February 23, 1988: Mr. Longe rules, after statements by prosecution and defence that there is no case against Mr. Akilu and Mr. Togun, he quashes the murder charge.
December 5, 1988: Supreme Court reverses its December 18, 1987 decision, and declares that only the Police have the right to investigate and prosecute murders.
October 23, 2000: the Human Rights Violations Investigations Commission (HRVIC), also known as the Oputa Panel, commences sitting.
December 4, 2000: the Oputa Panel summons Mr. Babangida to appear before it to answer questions relating to the murder of Mr. Giwa.
December 8, 2000: the Lagos High Court grants order “restraining the Commission from compelling them (Mr. Babagida, Mr. Akilu and Mr. Togun) to appear before it in Lagos on the grounds that their personal security would be at risk”.
December 11, 2000: Gani testifies for four hours before the Oputa Panel in Lagos, on the death of Mr. Giwa, and asks for the prosecution of Mr. Babangida, Mr. Akilu and Mr. Togun
July 11, 2001: Mr. Gani appears again before the Oputa Panel, in Abuja (the Panel had wound up its Lagos hearings) to insist that Mr. Babangida and the other accused persons must appear before the Panel
October 18, 2001: the Oputa Panel sits for the last time.
October 31, 2001: Two weeks after the Oputa Panel’s final sitting the Court of Appeal rules that the law backing the Oputa Panel is unconstitutional and, therefore, the panel has no power to summon Mr. Babangida, Mr. Akilu and Mr. Togun to answer questions relating to the assassination of Mr. Giwa.
June 3, 2002: Mr Babangida, Mr. Akilu and Mr. Togun file a suit at an Abuja High Court seeking to stop the then president, Olusegun Obasanjo, “from considering and/or accepting observations and recommendations” of the panel and “from implementing any recommendations, report or white paper arising from the report of the Oputa panel as they affect the plaintiffs, pending the hearing and determination of the suit.”
February 3, 2003: Supreme Court rules in favour of Mr. Babangida, by saying that the panel had “no powers to summon witnesses outside the Federal Capital Territory” and that “the 1999 Constitution made no provision for tribunals of inquiry.”
October 19, 2007: Gani writes to Yar’Adua asking for a reopening of investigations into the Dele Giwa murder case.
October 19, 2007: Gani Fawehinmi releases a press statement “on the urgent need to re-open investigation” into the death of Mr. Giwa. “Those responsible for his assassination have not been brought to book. They are still in the country with blood on their hands.”
December 9, 2007: Newspapers publish statement by President Umar Musa Yar’Adua directing the Inspector General of Police, Mike Okiro, to re-open all unresolved assassination cases in the country, and commence investigations.
October 19, 2009: 23 years after, the death of Dele Giwa remains unsolved.