Al Jazeera demands the release of their two Nigerian journalists via @iam_bobokanbai

Yesterday, the Nigerian military announced that they had restrained two Al Jazeera journalists they'd found loitering around areas where military operations were on going in Maidguri (read here). Al Jazeera has released a statement demanding the immediate release of the two men. Read below...

Al Jazeera demands the release of their two Nigerian journalists who have been detained in Maiduguri by Nigerian forces since Tuesday morning. Al Jazeera’s Ahmed Idris and producer Ali Mustafa were detained in their hotel room after they were returning from covering a story on the Nigerian forces fighting Boko Haram in Borno State. The story was part of Al Jazeera’s special coverage on the Nigerian elections.

After military officials questioned the men in their hotel rooms their camera equipment was confiscated. Both men have been kept in their hotel rooms and are officially detained until further notice.

 According to a reported military statement, both men were questioned and restrained in their room because they were operating without “protection, accreditation or due clearance” - despite having just completed filming with the cooperation of the military. Additionally, both Ahmed and Mustafa are officially accredited by the Independent Electoral Commission in Abuja with the clearance to report from anywhere in Nigeria during the entire election period.

The military statement also said that both men were said to be ‘loitering’ in various locations, however they were actually detained in their hotel rooms. The statement gave a reminder about warnings given to “foreign” journalists, but both Idris and Mustafa are Nigerian nationals. Idris has rich experience reporting in northern Nigeria. Last year he was the first international journalist to reach Chibok and interview families affected by the mass kidnap of schoolgirls by Boko Haram.

An Al Jazeera spokesperson said: "We call on the Nigerian authorities to release Ahmed Idris and Ali Mustafa; they have all the relevant paperwork to report on the Nigerian elections and stories related to the election. Both men had just finished filming a story on the military with their cooperation. They were not ‘loitering’, but were in the hotel room and had only passed through the restricted areas of Yobe and Borno State to get to Maiduguri." "Both men are accredited and respected Nigerian journalists.

As Nigerian citizens they are allowed to travel their country freely. Al Jazeera calls on the authorities to end this matter swiftly by returning all their equipment and releasing both men without conditions." Ahmed Idris and Ali Mustafa are part of four Al Jazeera English teams reporting on the election in Africa’s most populous country and largest economy.

Click to see the last report by Ahmed Idris on Nigerian Military Fighting Boko Haram in Borno.

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New Video: MI Abaga(@MI_Abaga) - Monkey Ft. Chigurl .... via @iam_bobokanbai

Mr Incredible drops the video of Monkey featuring Chigul 

Watch and enjoy

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Juliet Ibrahim reveals her most loved possession via @iam_bobokanbai

 

Ghanaian actress, Juliet Ibrahim says her most loved possession is her lipstick. She revealed this while on #PriceCheckRadioShow hosted by comedienne, Chigul. According to her, she feels incomplete without a touch of lipstick to her make up, “I’m a make up person and I can’t do without my make up especially my lipstick” she says.

The show also features George Wright, winner of the ‘Find And Win’ competition organized to mark her birthday. The competition had participants log on to Price Check website to choose the most suitable gift for the actress. 

The radio show, which began a few weeks ago, is designed to help listeners across Nigeria make amazing purchase decisions while still entertaining them with jokes from the three hosts, Chigul, Andre Blaze and Patrick Onyeke.

The 29-year-old Juliet Ibrahim began her acting career in 2005 and has since starred in over 50 movies, in the process amassing several awards including Best Actress at 2014 Ghana Movie Awards.

#PriceCheckRadioShow airs on Radio one 103.5 FM, Brila FM 88.9, and Metro FM 97.7and has previously hosted Skales, Samklef, popular rapper, Falz, and Dotun of Cool FM.

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Chaos In Oshodi As Suspected PDP Thugs Go On Rampage via @iam_bobokanbai

There is pandemonium and chaos in Oshodi, Lagos state, as suspected thugs allegedly working for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are currently on rampage.

Reports from the scenes of the incidents indicates that the alleged PDP thugs came to the streets early this morning, Thursday, 26th March, 2015 with dangerous weapons destroying all billboards and posters belonging to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

“Anybody wearing t-shirts or caps belonging to APC are being attacked and many have been injured,” eyewitnesses told this medium.

According to reports, tension has been building in Oshodi in anticipation of Thursday, 26th March, 2015, which is the day earmarked for road shows and house-to-house campaigns by political parties.

It was learnt that in order to avoid violence, the APC held its own street rally on Wednesday, 25th March, 2015.

Thursday’s violence was allegedly carried out by Fire Two boys whose members work for PDP.

Ironically, the base of the Fire Two boys is directly adjacent to Akinpelu police station and the police did not do anything on the matter. Not a single arrest was made.

The whole of Igbehin Adun, Akinpelu, Balogun and other adjoining streets were turned into theatre of war this morning.

Latest report indicated that soldiers have taken over the streets of Oshodi to stop the violence.

Ahead of the forthcoming polls many cases of political violence have been recorded by police.

Recently violence broke out in Saminaka town, Lere local government area in Kaduna, after the destruction of politicians’ campaign billboards.

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APC says PDP is Planning Trouble In 6 States via @iam_bobokanbai

The Nation reports that the statement was issued by Mallam Garba Shehu, the director of media and publicity, on March 25. It said the PDP-led government was plotting to cause trouble in the states aiming to sabotage the presidential election.

The statement reads:

“Credible information available to the campaign from deep inside the Federal Government have starkly put it to us that the PDP administration has hatched a plan by which the states of Lagos, Imo, Bayelsa, Rivers, Kano and Sokoto will be racked by trouble of a serious magnitude to sabotage the presidential election and democracy in the country in a sinister, wicked and selfish objective.

”It is clearly intended to generate a crisis of serious proportions that would lead to either the postponement or the outright cancellation of the election to exclude the states from the first round of voting.

“By this plan, the INEC will be forced to cancel the elections and have these states to conduct rescheduled elections a week later.

“The whole idea, according to these credible sources, is that the government wants to buy time yet again, gain energy and pump resources into a renewed crackdown on popular will in those states. They deploy the entire muscle and resources of the Federal Government to steal the election in the six states.”

Continuing the statement, Shehu said that 100 trained saboteurs had been deployed to each of the states to carry out these cruel acts. Therefore, he advised the citizens “to do all that is lawful to resist the attempts by the outgoing Jonathan administration to bring down our democracy at the point of their exit”.

Muhammadu Buhari, the APC presidential candidate, has recently made another allegation. He said that the PDP has trained thugs to whom they will distribute fake police uniforms to wear on election day to intimidate the electorate.

Meanwhile, the PDP has raised the alarm that the APC is bent on getting the PDP and its candidates in the state disqualified in the March 28 polls by the INEC.

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APC Accuses FG Of Planning Election Violence via @iam_bobokanbai

According to the Daily Trust, the Muhammudu Buhari campaign organisation said the ruling party is deliberately planning to engineer trouble in six states on Saturday in order to avert the imminent defeat at the poll.

A statement by the APC campaign spokesperson Malam Garba Shehu said “credible information available to the campaign from deep inside the federal government have starkly put it to us that the PDP administration has hatched a plan by which the States of Lagos, Imo, Bayelsa, Rivers, Kano and Sokoto will be racked by trouble of a serious magnitude in order to sabotage the presidential election and democracy in the country in a sinister, wicked and selfish objective.”

He said the crises to be formented in these states “is clearly intended generate a crisis of serious proportions that would lead to either the postponement or the outright cancellation of the election in order to exclude the states from the first round of voting. 

“By this plan, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC will be forced to cancel the elections and have these states conduct rescheduled elections a week later.‎”

The opposition campaign said “the whole idea, according to these credible sources is that the government wants to buy time yet again, gain energy and pump resources into a renewed crackdown on popular will in those states. The party said the government will deploy the entire muscle and resources of the federal government to steal the election in the six states.

Shehu added that “100 trained saboteurs” had been deployed to each of the states to carry out these felonious acts.”

The APC campaign  advised Nigerians in the interest of the well-being of “our hard-won democracy and the overall interest of the nation to wake up to the reality of the threats and to do all that is lawful to resist the attempts by the outgoing Jonathan administration to bring down our democracy at the point of their exit.”

The APC claims are up for believe but it will be gather more beleivers after there was pandemonium and chaos in Oshodi, Lagos state, as suspected thugs allegedly working for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ran currently on rampage and attacked APC supporters.

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Boko Haram kills 75 In Borno... via @iam_bobokanbai

According to a woman who said she escaped from the area, no fewer than 75 men were slaughtered by the heartless terrorists group.

The escapee who spoke with Sunnews in Maiduguri, Borno capital on Thursday on condition of anonymity, said she and other women who have been held captive by the Boko Haram members managed to escape after a bomb explosion pulled down the house where she was held.

She said she escaped from Gwoza to a neighbouring community that was recently liberated by the Nigerian military in Adamawa State.

“A bomb blast occurred in a house where many women were held captive by Boko Haram and there was confusion everywhere. Two people died and many injured. The confusion provided opportunity for me and others to flee the town,” she said.

The escapee said the ordeal of thousands of other people still held hostage by Boko Haram in Gwoza town, which is about 187 kilometres from Maiduguri were deplorable.

She said several women were kept in selected houses by the terrorists who often denied them of food for days, adding that life in Gwoza town is very terrible because residents live according to the dictate of their captors who uses Islamic tenets to rule.

Gwoza, a commu­nity southeast of Borno State is still under Boko Haram control. It was seized by the terrorists group in August last year, after a fierce gun fight with security operatives. The Isamic militants hoisted its flag and declared it an Islamic Caliphate as well as the headquarters of the sect.

No fewer that 12,000 people have been displaced in Gwoza where repeated attempts by the Nigerian troops to reclaim the town in the past has proved abortive because of the  hilly environment, which provide several hiding places for the sect’s members to operate.

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