My book will reveal who killed Dele Giwa – Bashorun

Former Chief Press Secretary to former military dictator, General Ibrahim Babangida (rtd.), Major Debo Bashorun (rtd.), is back on the scene with a new book that promises to reveal some hidden chapters in the nation’s history.

To most Nigerians who were witnesses to the events that followed the murder of the founder of Nweswatch Magazine, Dele Giwa, via a parcel bomb, Major Debo Bashorun’s name must ring a bell.

Now retired from the Army, the erstwhile Chief Press Secretary to former military dictator, General Ibrahim Babangida (rtd.), has written a new book that seeks to unravel the identities of Giwa’s killers and the circumstances that led to the controversial assassination.

Bashorun’s new book is titled Honour for Sale and it will be presented to the public on Friday, November 22, 2013 at the Freedom Park, Broad Street, Lagos.

In an interview with our correspondent, the author says the book is an insider’s account of what truly transpired between the slain journalist and the military government led by Babangida, as well as a testimony of his service as press secretary to the former military President.

As a military press secretary, Bashorun, who claims that he initially had a good working relationship with his boss before things turned awry, was virtually Babangida’s mouthpiece. During that period, he found himself serving as an important link between the Nigerian media and the military.

“I was basically a journalist in uniform and I had a wonderful relationship with my colleagues in the civilian media. My job placed me in a position to know what was going on in the Army all the time. And being in government then, I knew what was going on in the country. The Army was a closed society. Only a few of us who were insiders knew the workings of the system and what was happening at the time,” he says.

He says that his relationship with the media was so cordial that each time a journalist or two got into trouble with the military; he would intervene on their behalf and get them released. When Newswatch was banned by Babangida’s military administration, he had waded into the feud between the magazine and the government and managed to get the embargo lifted.

“When such complications came up, it was my duty to speak with the President and convince him to review his decision,” he says.

But the ‘romance’ between Bashorun and his principal came to an end as a result of the sudden death of Giwa, the publisher and editor-in-chief of Newswatch, in October 19, 1986.

“When Dele Giwa was assassinated, I was with General Babangida in Dodan Barracks. The public outcry against the incident was huge and there were demonstrations all over the country,” he recalls.

Bashorun says the general protests compelled him to walk up to Babangida and ask him how much he knew about the killing.

“I asked him if he was responsible for the death of Giwa. I told him that people were already saying the government had ordered the assassination. But he gave me the assurance that he did not kill him. If it was the Babangida that I knew, there was no reason for me to doubt him at that point.

“So I went out to meet the press and talk to them based on the information I had. Actually I was the only person in military uniform who wore a black arm band in honour of Dele Giwa during that period.

“I went everywhere with his colleagues as they mourned his death and demonstrated. As a result of my relationship with the civilian media, I had no fear of being attacked or molested. Those who were around then will confirm that I was deeply involved,” he says.

Although he was very close to Babangida at the time, Bashorun says,  the truth about Dele Giwa’s death eluded him for a long time. “Initially it was a hidden thing. Nobody seemed to know exactly what happened or how it happened. However, Babangida put together a panel to investigate the killing. It was headed by the then Inspector-General of Police, Alhaji Mohammed Gambo-Jimeta. The then Director of Military Intelligence, Colonel Halilu Akilu, was a member of that panel.”

“It wasn’t until after a long while that I found out the truth. When the result of the panel’s investigation was not forthcoming and nobody was arrested in connection with the assassination, the media became impatient and started questioning us. Even it got to a point where my colleagues in the media started shunning me.

“So I had to go back to Babangida again and I asked him what was going on. When I asked him about the stage of the investigation, he said that I should go straight to Gambo, who was the chairman of the panel, and find out what was going on. But Gambo told me that he had already handed the interim report of his panel to Babangida. At that point, I realised there was something that was not quite straight.

“I took that message, thinking that I would brief him the following morning. The following morning, Babangida just flared up and he asked me why I went to Gambo’s house. Then I reminded him that the previous day he gave me the permission to find out from Gambo about the progress of the investigation. After I caught him like that, he relaxed. But that was the problem. From that moment onwards, he became very uneasy and felt that I was digging too much. Then he started maltreating me. But, as a military man, I took it in my stride,” he said.

Bashorun says he was later accused of plotting to overthrow the government, detained and charged with treason in 1988.  This was preceded by a trip to the United States of America at the behest of the Federal Government.

“I was told to represent the government at an international award ceremony in honour of Ray Ekpu, who succeeded Dele Giwa, in New York. I was nominated for the trip by Babangida. I didn’t know that it was a set up. It turned out that the whole thing came with certain conditions that I couldn’t fulfil. I was given a special assignment. But I refused to carry out the assignment. When I returned to Nigeria, they had already concluded that I had become a turncoat and disloyal to the President. So I was framed up,” he explains.

The frame-up and a subsequent plot to eliminate him, Bashorun adds, would later form the basis for his book. But just before he left for the US, he had managed to uncover the truth about Dele Giwa’s assassination and the identity of the man who was behind it. The cold facts are presented in the book, ‘Honour for Sale’.

“My book has all the answers to some questions that Nigerians have been asking, with regard to the circumstances leading to Dele Giwa’s death,” he declares.

Source: Punch