Tag: Reporter

  • How Kanye West snatched reporter’s phone when asked about ‘controlling’ his wife allegations

    How Kanye West snatched reporter’s phone when asked about ‘controlling’ his wife allegations

    Popular American rapper, Kanye West has snatched reporter’s phone when asked about ‘controlling’ his wife allegations.

    Kanye West has been swirling on social media over alleged “Controlling” treatment of his wife Bianca Censori. And when one reporter asked Ye about the theories around his relationship on the street in Hollywood on Monday, he snatched her phone out of her hand and swore in her face.

    “Don’t come asking me that dumb-ass shit,” Kanye told the TMZ journalist while wearing a black balaclava to conceal his face. “I’m a person, bro,” he added, before asking the woman why she’d ask “some dumb-ass disrespectful questions about my wife.”

    The intense reaction came after the reporter had said to Kanye: “It’s good to see you. People want to know if Bianca has her free will, some people are saying you’re controlling her.” Kanye then stared her in the face before grabbing her phone and storming away in anger.

    “Bianca has always had social media and she was active on it – until she married Kanye,” an insider told the Mail. “He doesn’t want her to have it because he thinks that it would hurt her if she had to read the nasty things that people say.

  • Benin, Togo Degrees: ICPC boss, set to meet undercover reporter who revealed alleged corrupt practices

    Benin, Togo Degrees: ICPC boss, set to meet undercover reporter who revealed alleged corrupt practices

    Musa Adamu Aliyu, the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, has called for a critical meeting at the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja with the reporter who exposed the alleged degree certificate fraud in some neighbouring countries.

    The ICPC director of press, Azuka Ogugua, put out a statement saying that the invitation was to discuss the story published on December 30 by the reporter on the alleged corrupt practices at a Cotonou university.

    The statement said that meeting with the reporter was aimed at deepening the investigation and initiating relevant actions against parties involved in the certificate scandal.

    Recall that the investigation into Ecole Supérieure de Gestion et de Technologies, ESGT, in Cotonou revealed a concerning situation where degrees are allegedly awarded in as little as six weeks, bypassing standard academic procedures like application, registration, coursework, and examinations.

    In response to these critical allegations, the ICPC said it is embarking on a thorough investigation.

    According to the Commission, “the probe will rigorously examine the networks and individuals engaged in these malpractices, with the objective of restoring and preserving the integrity of our educational system.”

    The Commission said it will engage in a synergistic collaboration with relevant domestic and international bodies to jointly evaluate the legitimacy of academic qualifications procured from overseas institutions, especially those highlighted in the investigative report.

    The ICPC then called on all stakeholders in the educational and governmental sectors to join hands in this critical endeavor.

    “Together, we can work towards a future where the credibility of our educational qualifications is unimpeachable, and where corruption finds no refuge,” the Commission said.

  • My abductors told me they are dismissed soldiers – NAN reporter

    My abductors told me they are dismissed soldiers – NAN reporter

    Not long ago, one of the correspondents of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), was abducted by gunmen in Abuja.

    The correspondent had boarded their vehicle at the Federal Secretariat on the way home after an assignment on the fateful day.

    The fear-stricken Reporter, who is yet to recover from the trauma and has become generally afraid of everyone around her, tells the story:

    On the said day, I covered an assignment at the Presidential Villa.

    After the assignment, I filed my story and decided to go home. One of the Directors in the Villa offered to give the cameraman and I a ride to the Federal Secretariat where we could board commercial vehicles.

    I live in the suburbs and had to get to the Finance junction to board a vehicle to Dantata bridge and thereon to my place.

    Time was 4.45 p.m.

    I was careful not to join the wrong vehicle in view of the many stories about the activities of kidnappers and “one chance” operators in Abuja.

    So, I refused to board the first vehicle that stopped because it was totally new and its owner couldn’t have been so poor to begin to use it as a cab. I didn’t trust it.

    I boarded the second that came because the driver looked like a regular civil servant forced by the economic situation to pick passengers to augment his income. The passenger beside him looked like a banker that had just closed from work because he was well dressed, looked calm and wore an expensive perfume.

    I told them I was going to Dantata bridge along Lugbe route.

    There was only one person at the back. He wore a black vest atop a military camouflage. He was just playing with his phone.

    When we moved from the Finance junction, we stopped at the Bolingo junction, near NAN headquarters, where there were many others waiting for vehicles to go to Lugbe.

    A lady peeped and said she was going to Lugbe. The driver told her to pay N400, she offered to pay N200. But when they were discussing, the man seated beside me shouted on the driver and threatened to leave if the vehicle did not move. He ordered the lady to close the door. The driver quickly moved and started speeding.

    At this point, I was uncomfortable. I became afraid and told them I wanted to go down; I told them I had forgotten something and wanted to go back to pick it.

    That was when they swung into action.

    The front seat passenger quickly adjusted his seat and pressed it down to block me from attempting to go out while the man beside me brought out his gun, pinned it on my forehead and ordered me to close my eyes. He pressed me down to his laps and ordered me to cooperate with them otherwise they would kill me. They blindfolded me and said they would waste me if I didn’t behave well. They asked me where I live and I told them. They warned me against lying to them.

    At that time, I just started praying inside me. My body was shaking. I was dazed and confused. I started begging them not to harm me.

    They ransacked my bag and took everything. They took N375,000 a colleague gave me to help buy a gadget. They took my wristwatch and GTB ATM card.

    They also took my laptop, phones, 200 dollars, headphones, power bank, the Villa tag, NAN Identity Card, some other monies and valuables.

    They said they had been trailing me from the Villa and were aware that I was from the particular assignment.

    I told them I am just one of the reporters deployed by NAN to cover the Villa. They said I should call my family to bring N13 million while I should bring N5 million.

    I was so confused. So scared. I told them I am just a poor reporter and had nothing and no one. They scrolled through my phones and said I should call my contacts to bring money. I told them I only visit those people to pray for them.

    They asked if I am ready to change my faith. I told them I would not. They said even at gun point? I said yes.

    They asked me what bloody civilians knew about security to even organise any seminar about it.

    They told me they were not “one chance” operators. They said they were soldiers with the two in front already dismissed from the service while the one beside me was still in service and currently in Abuja.

    Those dismissed said they were kicked out in Sokoto and had come to Abuja for the Army General that sacked them, but did not meet him in his house.

    At that point, the journalist in me was curious to know why they were dismissed, but I couldn’t have asked them that ‘crazy’ question.

    They said they were forced into criminality because of the situation in the country and that Nigeria had turned them into criminals.

    They tied my legs and said they would take me to Sokoto; they were discussing among themselves whether to throw me out of the speeding vehicle.

    They said they picked me because they thought I had money. And added that they wouldn’t have picked me if they knew I had nothing.

    I told them there was no money where I work.

    They showed me an Indian ring they could press on me and I would lose my memory.

    Inside, I kept praying, while begging them not to harm me.

    They collected the PIN of the GTB ATM card and withdrew everything. They took money that evening and continued in the morning of the next day as I was too traumatised to get GTB to block the account.

    They took a total of N505,000 from the account.

    I was just sweating. And sucked up. I was just praying. One said they should waste me, one said I should be allowed to go. They kept moving round and round. Deep down in me, I believed that by God’s grace, they would not kill me.

    After going to the ATM where they took the money, they said they would not kill me because of two reasons – my confidence in God and the fact that I did not betray or deny Him even at gunpoint, and the fact that I pray for people.

    They kept moving and eventually dropped me somewhere. I think it was past 8.50 p.m. or so. I  still don’t know which part of Abuja that is.

    After I left the vehicle, the driver, who appeared to be their commander, called me and gave me my Villa tag. And the Techno phone. I tried to use it to call my boss in the office, but the phone was not working. I don’t know what they did to it. It appeared to have been deactivated.

    It was after I was able to get some people to reset it that I was able to put calls through.

    EPILOGUE

    I still feel so scared. I still feel so afraid of everyone and everything. But I thank God that they did not kill me.

    I find it difficult to trust anything and anyone around me. Sometimes, I feel like taking to my heels to nowhere in particular. It was a traumatic experience. I try not to bring back the hard memories but they keep returning.

    It was a bad experience, really. But, I thank God that they did not kill me.

  • NUJ seeks thorough investigation into death of Zamfara VON reporter

    NUJ seeks thorough investigation into death of Zamfara VON reporter

    The Zamfara Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) has called on security agencies to conduct thorough investigation into the death of Hamisu Danjibga, a Reporter with the Voice of Nigeria (VON).

    A statement signed by the Council Secretary, Ibrahim Ahmad in Gusau on Wednesday said: “The union regrets to announce the death of Hamisu Danjibga of Voice of Nigeria (VON) whose body was found in a soakaway behind his house three days after missing.
    “The discovery of his corpse was as result of an unpleasant odour smelt by some Islamiya children in the evening of Wednesday who drew the attention of their teachers.

    “After breaking the soakaway the dead body was confirmed to be that of Danjibga by his family and some neighbors.
    “His funeral rites had since been observed according to Islamic injunctions.”

    The union extended its heartfelt condolence to the family, Voice of Nigeria and the entire people of the state.
    The council, while expressing deep concern over the nature of Danjibga’s demise, appealed to the security agencies to thoroughly investigate the matter and bring the perpetrators of the dastardly act to justice.

     

  • IPC decries detention, harassment of Wikki Times Publisher, Reporter

    The International Press Centre (IPC), Lagos-Nigeria, has condemned in strong terms the harassment and molestation of Mr. Haruna Mohammed, the publisher of WikkiTimes online newspaper and one of the reporters, Mr. Idris Kamal, by the Police in Bauchi, Bauchi State.

     

    It was gathered that the ordeal of the two journalists began on Monday, June 27, 2022, when they honoured an invitation from the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID) following a petition by Mr. Yakubu Shehu Abdullahi, a member of the House of Representatives representing Bauchi Federal Constituency concerning a Wikki Times report of May 18, 2022 on the sudden death of Chairman of the All Progressive Peoples Congress (APC) in Bauchi Local Government area of the State.

     

    The journalists arrived at the station about 10am on Monday but after making a statement they were clamped into a cell where they alleged that they were physically assaulted. Despite the presence of their Lawyer at the Police Station, they were not set free until about 10 hours later and asked to report back on Tuesday, June 28, 2022 for further interrogation.

     

    The two journalists again reported at the SCIID Bauchi on Tuesday as directed but were promptly taken before a Bauchi Magistrates Court where they were charged for criminal conspiracy, defamation of character and cyber stalking.

     

    The court ruled that they should be held in custody until tomorrow, Wednesday June 29, 2022.

    IPC
    PUBLISHER of online newspaper, Wikki Times, Haruna Mohammed.

     

    In a statement signed by IPC Communications Officer, Toyin Ayoade, its Executive Director, Mr. Lanre Arogundade, said “IPC is worried about this trend of events and calls on the Police Command in Bauchi to avoid being used as tools of harassment against the journalists.

     

    “Since the petitioner alleged defamation, the Police should have in the first instance advised him to seek legal redress instead of illegally detaining the journalists for 10 hours on Monday, June 27, 2022 and subjecting them to physical and mental harassment in the process.”

     

    He added that it now behoves on the Police authorities in the State to ensure the safety of Mohammed and Kamal.

     

    Arogundade cautioned that journalists should not continue to be treated as endangered species in Nigeria, stating that “in all circumstances, the security agencies must always strive to toe the path of the rule of law in handling complaints or petitions against journalists and other media professionals, just as they should normally do for all citizens.”

  • JUST IN: NTA reporter kidnapped in Port Harcourt

    JUST IN: NTA reporter kidnapped in Port Harcourt

    Afemale reporter with Nigeria Television Authority, NTA, Network Centre in Port Harcourt , Mrs Chidiebele Julian Nweke Onyia, has been kidnapped by yet to be identified persons.

    Available details of how she was kidnapped are sketchy at the time of filing this report.

    But according to a post by Mrs Osinachi Samuel, her colleague, the journalist who works as Production Editor was abducted around Oil Mill axis of Port Harcourt on Tuesday evening.

    “Please, there’s a Sister and Colleague in need of freedom from kidnappers. NTA Port Harcourt Reporter, Chidiebere Oyia, was kidnapped Last night around Oil mill axis, on her way from work after NTA News @7. ( She worked as the Production Editor). Please, Sirs and ma’am’s, help us with any means to find her. Please Contact Manager News or any Police near you with valid information for her rescue,” Osinachi wrote.

    Other reports, however, indicated that she was abducted along Railway crossing in Woji Community of Obio-Akpor local government area of the State at about 8 pm on Tuesday

    She was reportedly on her way home after the NTA 7 pm newscast when she was kidnapped, it was further learnt.

    Anita Josephine Ogonna, a staff of Silverbird Radio and Television in Port Harcourt and one of Chidiebele’s friends who also reported the kidnapping incident on her blog told our correspondent on phone that she is worried about the recent turn on journalists by kidnappers.

    Mrs Onyia who is married and has children is a graduate of Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu.

    The Rivers Police Command has not reacted to the abduction as at the time of filing in this report.

  • Reporter shot dead in front of his house

    Reporter shot dead in front of his house

    Police on Tuesday reported that a radio commentator who survived a 2016 assassination attempt was shot dead in front of his house in the northern Philippines.

    According to a police report, Virgilio Maganes, 62, was about to enter his house in the town of Villasis when two suspects shot him six times.

    The police said he died on the spot, adding that no suspects or motive have been identified.

    The National Union of Journalists in the Philippines (NUJP) said Maganes was the 18th journalist to be killed since President Rodrigo Duterte took office in 2016.

    The NUJP said he survived an assassination attempt in November 2016 “by playing dead’’ when gunmen riding a motorcycle shot him.

    “A sign was left near the scene that said, ‘Drug pusher, don’t imitate,” in what was seen to be an attempt to divert attention from the real motive for the slay try,’’ it added.

    The Philippines has been ranked as one of the world’s most dangerous places for journalists by press freedom groups, including the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists.

    In 2009, 32 media workers were among more than 50 people killed in a local politician’s convoy heading to a rally in the southern region of Mindanao.

    Ten years after the killing, a Philippine court convicted members of an influential political clan and dozens of supporters of murder for the worst election-related killing in the country.

  • BBC writes PDP, demands probe of official who slapped reporter ‘while distributing money to voters’

    The British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC, has asked the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to probe the alleged assault on its correspondent, Ajoke Ulohotse, who was attacked during the just concluded governorship and House of Assembly elections in the Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State.

    Recall that a popular Lagos-based, Segun Adewale, was caught on camera allegedly slapping a female reporter of the BBC during the March 9, elections.

    In the video clip, the politician was heard insisting that the female journalist should not record him.

    He was also heard asking the reporter who she was trying to call.

    Adewale was said to be sharing N1,000 to each voter, who voted for his party at the Pleasure Bus Stop along the Abeokuta-Lagos Expressway.

    However, the BBC in a letter written to Prince Uche Secondus, the PDP’s national chairman and Dr. Adegbola Dominic, the Lagos state chairman, on Monday said Ulohotse was attacked by Adewale who forcefully took her phone away.

    The BBC in the letter claimed it has video evidences of how Mr. Adewale assaulted Ulohotse.

    It demanded that the national chairman and the Lagos state chairman use their offices to ensure that the incident was thoroughly investigated and findings shared.

    The letter, signed by Adejuwon Soyinka, Editor, BBC News Pidgin Service reads thus: “We will like to draw your attention to an incident on Saturday March 9, 2019 in which a BBC reporter, Ajoke Ulohotse, was assaulted while carrying out her lawful duties by Mr. Segun Adewale, popularly known as Aeroland. Mr . Adewale is said to be a prominent member of your party in the Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State.

    The BBC reporter was assigned to cover the Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State during the Governorship and state House of Assembly elections and was monitoring voting proceedings at a polling unit located right in front of Pleasure Bus Stop, along the Lagos-Abeokuta expressway when she was attacked by Mr. Adewale.

    At the polling unit, she noticed that voters were encouraged to approach Mr. Adewale immediately after they voted to collect a cash reward of N1,000 that the politician was personally handing over to them. Sensing this was an apparent case of vote-buying, the reporter decided to film.

    Sadly, she was attacked by Mr. Adewale who slapped and forcefully took her phone away. In assaulting the BBC reporter, Mr. Adewale was assisted by some thugs who had accompanied him to the polling unit.

    We have video evidences of how Mr. Adewale assaulted the BBC reporter and are therefore demanding that you use your offices to ensure that this incident is thoroughly investigated and your findings shared with us.”

  • BREAKING: Judge orders White House to restore CNN reporter’s pass

    A U.S. judge has ordered the White House to restore access to a reporter of the CNN who was barred from the seat of power.

    The White House suspended the press credentials of CNN reporter Jim Acosta on Wednesday, November 7, hours after President Trump took issue with questions Acosta asked at a news conference.

    The move to punish Acosta by removing his access to the White House is believed to be unprecedented, Washington Post reported.

    The Trump administration barred another CNN reporter from attending an open media event in July, but until the Acosta matter, he did not go as far as removing a credential, known as a “hard pass,” which enables a journalist to enter the White House grounds.

    Press secretary Sarah Sanders cited Acosta’s brief confrontation with a White House press aide during Trump’s midday news conference as the reason for suspending his press pass “until further notice.”

    During the 90-minute session at the White House on that November 7, Trump snapped at Acosta after the reporter asked whether the president had ‘demonized immigrants’ by calling a caravan of Central American migrants ‘an invasion.’

    After a long and tense back-and-forth, a female White House intern tried to take the microphone from Acosta.

    Acosta held onto it and raised an arm to shield it, in the process making contact with the aide. ‘Pardon me, ma’am,’ he said to her.

    [‘You’re a very rude person.’ ‘That’s enough.’ ‘Sit down.’ Trump’s news conference turns hostile.]

    After their exchange, Trump told Acosta: ‘CNN should be ashamed of itself having you working for them.

    “‘You are a rude, terrible person. You shouldn’t be working for CNN. You’re a very rude person. The way you treat Sarah Huckabee is horrible. And the way you treat other people are horrible. You shouldn’t treat people that way,’” WP reports.

    Later that day, Sanders accused Acosta of “placing his hands on a young woman” and said it was on those grounds that Acosta’s press pass was being suspended.

    President Trump believes in a free press and expects and welcomes tough questions of him and his Administration,” Sanders said in a statement. “We will, however, never tolerate a reporter placing his hands on a young woman just trying to do her job as a White House intern. This conduct is absolutely unacceptable. It is also completely disrespectful to the reporter’s colleagues not to allow them an opportunity to ask a question.”

    On Twitter, Acosta responded to the press secretary’s statement with, simply: “This is a lie.”

  • Police speaks on arrest, detainment of Premium Times journalist

    The Nigeria Police Force on Thursday spoke about its arrest and detainment of a Security reporter with Premium Times, Samuel Ogundipe.

    The police in its reaction accused the reporter of violating the Official Secret Act and the Cyber Crime Act, adding that he was also being tried for theft of classified document.

    The Force insisted that Ogundipe’s action was “detrimental to national security,” noting that it could jeopardise peace and was capable of causing crisis in the country.

    Recall that Ogundipe was arrested on Tuesday by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad operatives over the publication of the report of Police investigation into the invasion of the National Assembly by the Department of State Services, and a Kubwa magistrate court had ordered he be remanded in Police custody till August 20.

    In a statement in Abuja on Thursday, the Force Spokesman, acting DCP Jimoh Moshood, also stated that the accused journalist had volunteered statements and he is standing trial.

    It said, “The Force is categorically stating that Ogundipe is being investigated and prosecuted for the offences of theft and unlawful possession of restricted and classified documents inimical to State/National Security that can jeopardise peace, breakdown of law and order capable of precipitating crisis in the country.

    “Ogundipe is also being investigated and prosecuted under other offences which violate Official Secret Act, Cyber Crime Act, and the Penal Code for which he has volunteered statements and is standing trial.”

    Moshood stated that Ogundipe was arraigned in court in less than 24 hours of his arrest, adding that the police “as a law abiding organization will continue to ensure that the Rule of Law and its supremacy which are essentials of democracy prevail at all times.”

    “The Nigeria Police Force and the media are veritable partners in ensuring peace, law and order in the country, but the Force will not compromise or allow an offender to go scot free or pervert the end of justice,” he added.

    A coalition of civil society groups, #OurMumuDondo, had earlier in the morning stormed the force headquarters, Abuja to demand the release of the Premium Times reporter.

    Led by popular musician, Charlie boy, the protesters insisted on the release of the reporter, noting that they would not leave until he is freed.

    The activists briefly barricaded the Shehu Shagari Way, forcing motorists to ply alternative routes.

    Presidential aspirant, Omoyele Sowore, knocked the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris for pressurizing Ogundipe to disclose his source.

    Another activist, Ralph Adebayo described the IG as “ignorant,” noting that “he has been transmitting confusion since he became the police boss, stumbling from one controversy to another.”

    The convener, Concerned Nigerians, Deji Adeyanju said the group would continue to besiege the police headquarters daily until their demand is met.

    Addressing the protesters, Moshood said the detention of the journalist was not a punishment, a claim that annoyed the campaigners who objected loudly.

    Asked why Ogundipe’s bank account was frozen,the force spokesman said,

    “It is part of investigation; We should try to educate ourselves. The Judges’ rule permit the police if an offence is committed in Abuja to go far to Lagos to get anywhere to get evidence in resolution of the matter.”