Journalists Abiri appears in court
News & Trends •
shehu said abiri was arrested for pipeline vandalism and crude theft including militant activities in the niger delta2 on the issue of the arrest and continued detention of mr jones abiri who allegedly parades himself as a journalist by the department of state services dss it is instructive to note that the accused is a guest of the security agency because of his alleged involvement in militant and criminal activities2 as a true believer in the rule of law and the integral role of the media in a democracy the presidency did interface with the security agency involved in the matter and our findings confirmed that the suspect is in custody because of alleged involvement in pipeline vandalism and theft2 abiri is not a registered journalist with any of the media professional bodies in the country2 he therefore frowned at those individuals or groups insinuating that president buhari was in support of restrictions on freedom of expression and the media2 it is therefore very uncharitable for anyone or group to suggest otherwise or infer that the president is in support of restrictions on freedom of expression and the media2 the presidential spokesman maintained that the buhari administration would continue to promote the freedom and safety of journalists2 he reassured that the administration would also do nothing untoward to damage the credibility it had demonstrated in promoting press freedom since coming into power in may 20152 the appearance in court of nigerian journalist mr. jones abiri has put paid to speculations that he may have died in detention1 mr abiri the publisher of weekly source magazine was arrested on july 21 2016 at his office in yenagoa the bayelsa state capital on allegations that he was a key militant terrorising locals and expatriates in the oil-rich niger delta an allegation he denies. reported1