Outrage yesterday greeted the detention of an Africa Independent Television (AIT) senior correspondent and presenter, Mr Amaechi Anakwe on the orders of newly appointed assistant inspector-general of police (AIG), Zone 7, Abuja, Joseph Mbu, for allegedly describing the him as ‘controversial’ during a programme aired by the station. Media practitioners and rights advocates who reacted to the detention which went viral on social media yesterday condemned the action of the Mbu, saying he was going too far and exhibiting power drunkenness. The Abuja chapter of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) described the AIG’s action as unbecoming of an officer of the law, who should have headed to the law courts in the event of defamation or libel. Chairman of the chapter, Mr Chuks Ehirim who spoke with LEADERSHIP Friday called on Mbu to immediately release the detained journalist, saying that the country has gone beyond the era of arbitrary and illegal detention and brutalisation of Nigerians by the law enforcement agents. He said, “I just got information now that Anakwe has been released but asked to report at the police station by 7am tomorrow (today). All the same, I don’t see what is wrong in the word ‘controversy’ that should warrant arrest and detention. “We are calling on the police to give journalists a breathing space to do their work without fear of intimidation.” The executive director, corporate services, DAAR Communications Plc, Mr Johnson Onime, who spoke to LEADERSHIP Friday on phone last night, said Anakwe was invited by the police authorities yesterday morning after airing an interview session with Mbu’s successor at the FCT command, CP Wilson Inalegwu, in which the reporter was said to have asked the new commissioner of police whether he would be as controversial as Mbu.
Posted on: Fri, 03 Oct 2014 05:46:05 +0000
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