Veteran crime reporter Folorunsho Atta has recalled how the late investigative journalist, Dele Giwa, complained bitterly about the harassment and intimidation of Nigerians by security agents just three days before General Ibrahim Babangida overthrew the government of Major General Muhammadu Buhari in a military coup.
Atta disclosed this while recounting his encounter with Giwa and Babangida, decades after the journalist was brutally murdered by unidentified assailants.
According to Atta, Giwa had raised concerns about the conduct of security operatives during a gathering involving Babangida and two other prominent Nigerians.
Atta said the group comprised Babangida, Giwa, human rights activist Dr Beko Ransome-Kuti and Oba Funsho Adeolu.
He explained that the four men had visited his boss, who was the personal physician to the late businessman and politician, Chief M.K.O. Abiola.
Recalling the encounter, Atta said he was responsible for attending to his boss’s visitors, particularly because three of them were older friends with whom he had close relationships.
“As part of my normal routine, I was responsible for looking after my boss’s guests, especially since three of them happened to be close, older friends of mine,” he said.
Atta recalled that while showing the visitors where to find his boss, he noticed the quality of Babangida’s shoes and complimented him.
“While guiding them to the whereabouts of my boss, a pair of sharp, high-quality shoes worn by Babangida caught my eye. I couldn’t help but compliment him on them,” he said.
He added that Giwa turned to him to ask what kind of shoes Babangida was wearing.
“When I replied that they were made of pure leather, both Giwa and Beko immediately started teasing me and poking fun at my answer,” Atta recalled.
Atta noted that Babangida’s overthrow of Buhari’s government three days after Giwa’s reported complaint about security agents’ treatment of Nigerians should not be interpreted as evidence that the coup was carried out on the journalist’s behalf.
He stressed that the timing was coincidental and did not mean Babangida acted against his former boss because of Giwa’s criticism.
“The fact that Babangida took power three days after Giwa criticised the previous government’s harassment of citizens does not mean the coup was executed on Giwa’s behalf,” Atta said.
He cautioned against drawing a direct connection between the two events, maintaining that the sequence of events did not establish that Giwa’s complaint influenced Babangida’s decision to overthrow Buhari.
Giwa, a pioneering investigative journalist and founding editor of Newswatch magazine, was killed on October 19, 1986, by a parcel bomb delivered to his Lagos residence.
His murder remains one of Nigeria’s most notorious unresolved attacks on a journalist, continuing to raise questions about press freedom, accountability and the safety of investigative reporters.
Details later.
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