Al Jazeera Demands Release of Detained Journalists in Nigeria
Doha-based broadcaster owned by the Al Jazeera Media Network has demanded the immediate release “without conditions” of its two journalists detained by Nigerian military authorities in Maiduguri.
The defense headquarters had said in a statement on Wednesday said the two journalists “were found loitering around areas where military operations are ongoing in the North East have been restrained in Maiduguri.”
It gave the names as Ahmed Idris and Mustafa Andy but the Aljazeera network said a statement posted on its website that Ahmed Idris and Ali Mustafa who are both Nigeria nationals “are officially accredited by the Independent Electoral Commission in Abuja with the clearance to report from anywhere in Nigeria during the entire election period.”
“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”, an Al Jazeera spokesman said in a statement on Wednesday.
The two journalists were detained while reporting on the Nigerian forces fighting armed group Boko Haram as part of Al Jazeera’s special coverage on the upcoming elections, it said.
“Both men had just finished filming a story on the military with their cooperation. Both men are accredited and respected Nigerian journalists”, the statement read.
