Akinnola to Togun: Fawehinmi never paid damages for accusing you of Dele Giwa’s murder

Richard Akinnola, a legal practitioner and author, has replied to Kunle Togun, the former director-general of the State Security Service (SSS), over his recent claims about Gani Fawehinmi, the late human rights lawyer. 

Togun was the deputy director of the SSS when Dele Giwa, the late publisher of Newswatch magazine, was killed in Lagos by a parcel bomb on October 19, 1986.

Fawehinmi doggedly accused Togun, alongside Haliru Akilu, a former director of the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI), as the prime suspect in the journalist’s death.

However, in a recent interview with Edmund Obilo, a radio presenter, Togun claimed that the court dismissed Fawehinmi’s case against him and Akilu.

He added that the verdict also awarded them damages, which “Fawehinmi paid”.

“I can remember how much he paid. We sued him for calling us the killers, for libel. We sued him for trauma,” Togun had said.

“My family was going through trauma. My daughter was called the daughter of a murderer in school. Those were the evidence I tendered in court.”

Reacting to the claim, Akinnola, in a statement on Tuesday, said Fawehinmi never paid damages to Togun and Akilu.

Akinnola, who was a close associate of Fawehinmi, added that although damages were awarded against the late human rights lawyer, he appealed the decision before a higher court.

“Another lie told by Brigadier Togun in the interview was to the effect that Gani Fawehinmi paid the damages awarded against him by the court for defamation against Togun and Akilu,” he said.

“When asked by his interviewer how much Gani paid, he said he couldn’t remember. Is it possible for you to be paid some millions of naira and you couldn’t remember?

“The truth is that Gani didn’t pay any damages. Let me help Brigadier Togun.

“The court awarded N6 million as damages to him and Akilu for defamation, that is, N3 million apiece, but Gani challenged the decision at the appellate court.

“Except I check my records, I can’t say precisely now what happened to the matter at the appellate courts.”

Fawehinmi was a civil rights lawyer popular for his unimpeachable stands on holding people in power to justice.

He died in 2009 after a prolonged battle with lung cancer.