THE co-founder and former deputy chief executive officer of Newswatch magazine, Yakubu Mohammed, has died, aged 75.
Mohammed, born on April 4, 1950, reportedly died late Tuesday night in Lagos after a prolonged illness.
A native of Ologba in Dekina Local Government Area of Kogi State, Mohammed had a distinguished journalism career spanning several decades, serving in various capacities at New Nigerian Newspapers and National Concord before co-founding Newswatch, where he rose to become Managing Editor and later Deputy Chief Executive Officer.
Mohammed, alongside Dele Giwa, Ray Ekpu and Dan Agbese founded Newswatch in 1984, establishing it as a leading voice in investigative journalism during Nigeria’s military era. Giwa was killed on October 19, 1986, through a parcel bomb.
The late veteran journalist published his memoir in October 2025 titled “Beyond Expectations”, which chronicled the history of Newswatch and offered personal insights into the magazine’s formative years, including the controversy surrounding the 1986 assassination of founding editor-in-chief, Giwa, and the subsequent struggle for control of the influential magazine.
He attended St Joseph’s Primary School, Ayangba, in 1964; Government Secondary School, Okene, between 1965 and 1969; the University of Lagos from 1972 to 1975; and the Glasgow College of Technology in Scotland between 1978 and 1979.
Beyond journalism, Muhammed was a director at Yadara Nigeria Limited and Lastop Limited, member of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, the Commonwealth Journalists’ Association, and the Nigerian Guild of Editors. He also served as pro-chancellor and chancellor of the governing council of Ahmadu Bello University.
Mohammed’s death comes less than two months after the passing of another Newswatch co-founder, Dan Agbese, who died after a prolonged illness on November 17, 2025.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues. She has documented sexual war crimes in armed conflict, sex for grades in Nigerian Universities, harmful traditional practices and human trafficking.
The Newswatch group is the most courageous Nigeria ever produced. They may have mellowed later but they paid a high price for telling the truth as they saw it instead of lying to the people.
I loved them all; Dele Giwa, Ray Eko, Dan Agbese and Yakubu Mohammed. I pray all who have slept, slept in the Lord.
May God bless all your loved ones.