Audu Maikori, a Nigerian lawyer and CEO of Chocolate City Entertainment, has been arrested by the police. The arrest is linked to his tweets about a fatal attack on his relatives in Southern Kaduna that turned out to be false, his lawyer said Friday.
Mark Jacobs told PREMIUM TIMES that Mr. Maikori, 41, was arrested in Lagos around noonFriday by a team of police officers attached to inspector-general monitoring and intelligence team and was immediately transferred to the Force Headquarters in Abuja.
“I arrived at the Force Headquarters and learnt that a detention order has already been signed for him,” Mr. Jacobs said of his client. “I am not sure he will be released tonight.”
Mr. Jacobs said he was told by the police that a magistrate issued warrant for Mr. Maikori’s arrest and are planning to charged him with attempt to “incite” the public.
Police spokesman, Jimoh Moshood, did not immediately respond to PREMIUM TIMES’ requests for comments Friday night.
The arrest of Mr. Maikori, a vocal advocate for the plight of residents of the restive area, came nearly four weeks after he narrated an attack that purportedly took place in Southern Kaduna.
In a series of tweets on January 23, Mr. Maikori said his driver, later identified as Simon Joseph, told him that he lost his brother in a Fulani herdsmen ambush in Southern Kaduna and will be travelling for burial.
“My driver’syounger brother and five others students of college of education Gidan Waya were ambushed and killed by herdsmen yesterday #SouthernKaduna.
“They were in a commercial car going back to school when the driver stopped suddenly under the pretext of checking his engine #SouthernKaduna.
“As soon as the car stopped the attackers shot all 6 students but let the driver who is Fulani go. He gave us these details#SouthernKaduna.
“When we speak we are viewed as trouble makers by the Govt. Well I have seen the pictures and it’s a painful sight#SouthernKaduna,” Mr.
Social media users became livid after Mr. Maikori’s vivid naration of the purported attack.
The tweets were later picked up by some Nigerian newspaperswithout further checks.
Two days later, Kaduna State College of Education in Gidan Waya, where Mr. Maikori said the students were schooling, issued a statement denying any loss of students to an attack as described by Mr. Maikori.
The Kaduna State Government condemned the misinformation and the reporter responsible for the story in Vanguard Newspaper was arrested and charged.
On February 4, following intense criticism on social media, Mr. Maikori retracted and apologised for posting the tweets in a lenghty article that also offered detailed explanation of how he was misled by Mr. Joseph.
“I hereby tender an unreserved and sincere apology to the Management of the College of Education, Gidan Waya, His Excellency the Governor of Kaduna State and the Kaduna State Government, and also to the people of Southern Kaduna and the Fulani community and also VANGUARD newspapers whose source was my driver for the false statement by my driver which I also publicized believing same to be true,” Mr. Maikori wrote.
Mr. Jacob said Mr. Maikori’s driver was arrested a few days ago in Lagos, and had remained in detention ever since.
Mr. Maikori’s arrest caused social media buzz late Friday, with a prominent human rights activist and legal expert, Chidi Odinkalu, calling for his immediate release.
Mr. Odinkalu, a former Chairman of National Human Rights Commission, was among the first to raise alarm about Mr. Audu’s arrest Friday night.
“They should immediately release him because he had apologised for the tweets and I don’t think the matter is a criminal offence that warrants him being locked up for so many days,” Mr. Odinkalu said.
From Premium Times
“I arrived at the Force Headquarters and learnt that a detention order has already been signed for him,” Mr. Jacobs said of his client. “I am not sure he will be released tonight.”
Mr. Jacobs said he was told by the police that a magistrate issued warrant for Mr. Maikori’s arrest and are planning to charged him with attempt to “incite” the public.
Police spokesman, Jimoh Moshood, did not immediately respond to PREMIUM TIMES’ requests for comments Friday night.
The arrest of Mr. Maikori, a vocal advocate for the plight of residents of the restive area, came nearly four weeks after he narrated an attack that purportedly took place in Southern Kaduna.
In a series of tweets on January 23, Mr. Maikori said his driver, later identified as Simon Joseph, told him that he lost his brother in a Fulani herdsmen ambush in Southern Kaduna and will be travelling for burial.
“My driver’syounger brother and five others students of college of education Gidan Waya were ambushed and killed by herdsmen yesterday #SouthernKaduna.
“They were in a commercial car going back to school when the driver stopped suddenly under the pretext of checking his engine #SouthernKaduna.
“As soon as the car stopped the attackers shot all 6 students but let the driver who is Fulani go. He gave us these details#SouthernKaduna.
“When we speak we are viewed as trouble makers by the Govt. Well I have seen the pictures and it’s a painful sight#SouthernKaduna,” Mr.
Social media users became livid after Mr. Maikori’s vivid naration of the purported attack.
The tweets were later picked up by some Nigerian newspaperswithout further checks.
Two days later, Kaduna State College of Education in Gidan Waya, where Mr. Maikori said the students were schooling, issued a statement denying any loss of students to an attack as described by Mr. Maikori.
The Kaduna State Government condemned the misinformation and the reporter responsible for the story in Vanguard Newspaper was arrested and charged.
On February 4, following intense criticism on social media, Mr. Maikori retracted and apologised for posting the tweets in a lenghty article that also offered detailed explanation of how he was misled by Mr. Joseph.
“I hereby tender an unreserved and sincere apology to the Management of the College of Education, Gidan Waya, His Excellency the Governor of Kaduna State and the Kaduna State Government, and also to the people of Southern Kaduna and the Fulani community and also VANGUARD newspapers whose source was my driver for the false statement by my driver which I also publicized believing same to be true,” Mr. Maikori wrote.
Mr. Jacob said Mr. Maikori’s driver was arrested a few days ago in Lagos, and had remained in detention ever since.
Mr. Maikori’s arrest caused social media buzz late Friday, with a prominent human rights activist and legal expert, Chidi Odinkalu, calling for his immediate release.
Mr. Odinkalu, a former Chairman of National Human Rights Commission, was among the first to raise alarm about Mr. Audu’s arrest Friday night.
“They should immediately release him because he had apologised for the tweets and I don’t think the matter is a criminal offence that warrants him being locked up for so many days,” Mr. Odinkalu said.
From Premium Times
*Chaiiiiiiiiii this sounds serious.
Nawa oo
ReplyDeleteWhy tweet such a thing online without confirmation,they should release since he has apologize.
Why should they release him ? He must serve as a deterrent to others that write fake news on social media.
DeleteThat tweet is enough to insite a fresh violence in such a volatile area.
DSS are just being silly. Elrufai also incited the country with his tweets that it is the Christians that were sponsoring BH but nothing was done. If trump goes about arresting pple/ media lying against him, I wonder how many pple will be left. This country is dead all thanks to our greedy politicians. May God save us.
DeleteWhy is no one saying free the driver. He lied fair enough but that's between the employer and employee, why should he be jailed. Double standards hey?
DeleteI think there's more to this
DeleteI don't think its a false news
You see, these people don't want you to know what's really going on.
May God help us
Don Mayor, your stupid is so obvious because if you are a student of Nigerian history you would know that just a couple of years back , El-Rufai's tweets were the epitome of incitement...yet no one arrested him.
DeleteThe same man who said he is compensating the killers of Southern Kaduna Christians..and now he orders the arrest of someone who simply tested some info he got from his gateman , and immediately they interrogated the gateman and found it to be false, he came online and apologized.
Did ElRufai ever apologize for the lies and drivel he poured in Christians and GEJ? All the emboldment his tweet gave to the terrorist nko? Did he apologize for it?
But he said he saw the pictures. Oh well, he's trending now. So I hope he's happy?
ReplyDeleteSee the trouble he brought upon himself now, tweeting base on rumor in this sensitive period.
DeleteThis is really serious, may God deliver him. This is a big lesson to everybody, let's be careful of what we post on SM.
ReplyDeleteGbam.i must trend syndrome
DeleteTrust Nigerians to play to the gallery and once again blame Buhari and his government. What Maikori did is a serious breach of the law, and I'm surprised that even Chidi Odinakalu, a Prof of law is joining the fray. Ordinarily, if the info was true, he only needed to report to the authorities rather than go public and exacerbate the situation. The he sent out lies to incite further violence is inexcusable, and I'm sure even he saw this arrest coming
ReplyDeleteWhat happened when elrufai said he was on sniper watch or that the Christians are members of book haram? Abi when he said GEJ was out to wipe out the whole of the north?
DeleteWho was he inciting by the way? The Christians who are too calm to take laws into their hands and All we do is to say "God is in Control". My brother, non of these would have happened if the north learn to be tolerant and respect each other's territory... Above all education is key.
Its a breach of the law if it was done with malicious intent and if he hadn't retracted the story. Its sad that the same people prior to 2015 elections spread false stories continuously especially elrufai now all of a sudden have a standard. Nigeria is no longer a Democratic state
DeleteThank you, Wild Rose! Nigerians have short memory. That's why they are easily manipulated by the elite!
DeleteAudu, tie ba e.
ReplyDeleteHahahahahaha. Nobody can talk again, During GEJ tenure , people were free to talk shits, lies and all sorts of things. But if you talk now, whether now lie or not, they re gonna arrest you and gag you sharply.God help Nigeria.hahahahahaha.😅😅😅😅😅
ReplyDeleteDon't say that. That statement is enough to cause more violent. How can he go online to say things he had no knowledge of.
DeleteLet's be reasonable, this is not about Buhari or GEJ.
Spreading lies to incite the people is a punishable offense dear.
DeleteIf nobody else, u need gagging! Thick black dick thru ur wide mouth down your throat should shut u up! Smelly pussy. Change your underwear.
DeleteIn that case almost all our politicians should be arrested. Do you know the inciteful statements they make is huge enough to start a world war 3... Let's face the truth, social media pple can not carry cutlass and be killing pple upandan we no get liver to carry out barbaric acts like that. The herdsmen that are killing and raping people are gingered to do that because they get their inspirations from SM abi?...
Deletelet's not forget most of the people arresting people and giving out order to arrest, where the once saying fighting boko haram was fight against the north, we're they arrested, when former Edo state came out and said okonjo iweala stole money, and they found out it was a lie, was he arrested? This govt should stop intimidating us.
DeleteOh dear!
ReplyDeletePlease next time verify what you hear before posting online.
They should release him since he has since apologized.
Singing
ReplyDeleteE don happen... Kekeleke
@Galore
First he tweeted a false narration, and he even confirmed he has pictures meaning he has evidence. Then comes out to say again the pictures shown to him were blurry. We need to be careful in the way we handle issues and incite the public in an already volatile situation. He incited the public against the govt cos he understand people would never believe the govt side of the story. He should be made to apologize in public dailies and also sign an undertaking to always fact check stories before putting it out
ReplyDeleteFirst he tweeted a false narration, and he even confirmed he has pictures meaning he has evidence. Then comes out to say again the pictures shown to him were blurry. We need to be careful in the way we handle issues and incite the public in an already volatile situation. He incited the public against the govt cos he understand people would never believe the govt side of the story. He should be made to apologize in public dailies and also sign an undertaking to always fact check stories before putting it out
ReplyDeleteFine man, a Nigerian 41 year without a pot belly.
ReplyDeleteI swear, you will see Yoruba men carrying beer pregnancy up and down. Make dem release am Jare.
DeleteNext!!!!!
ReplyDeleteBut he already apologised now
ReplyDeleteWhat about the driver? Why was he arrested? He didn't tweet anything so why should he be arrested??? Uuughhh Nigeria
ReplyDeleteHe roped the driver as his source of fake news. No how they won't pick him up too.
DeleteHe was the one that narrated the false story to his Boss that prompted Boss to tweet.
DeleteDriver fed him the false info, that's the claim. So you could argue if he hadn't, Audu may not have tweeted, so you can blame the driver.
DeleteBut the driver should still not be arrested. He gave false info to his employer. The employer single handedly used Twitter fingers. Double standards
DeleteThank you @lara. What nonsense! Someone gave you news that you didn't verify how is that the persons problem. Everyone gives false gist or news every now and then if you don't verify it then that's on you for posting it on a social platform. I still don't see why they would arrest him tho smh
DeleteHe should no better than tweeting or spreading a news without proper verification of source....that tweet though harmless might have incited more killing,but thank God it didn't,ND since he apologised he should be released with a stern warning
ReplyDeleteIn the same breath you say the tweet is harmless yet can invite violence.
DeleteHarmless in the sense that he retracted it and apologised
DeleteWho knows? This government can do anything to cover up their tracks.
ReplyDeleteThey should release him, the driver should be held responsible for this cos he believed his driver and thought to use the media to create the awareness.
ReplyDeleteThat's was his negligence and a personal choice. He could have verified the info before publicising it. #duediligence
DeleteThis guy go hear am o. You don't fish out false news on social media and go away with it. The world is shouting about fske news that are been generated daily on social media.
ReplyDeleteGo face your warrant and I hope those that dish out shit online learn from this. How could you say this much without verifying your source of stories before going online and you are a lawyer ?
Shut up you idiot.
DeleteThe harm has been done.
Why gloat over another man's misfortune? May all your enemies gloat over your soooooonumber to be publisized mistakes openly anuofia
Soon*
DeleteWho know the don monkey...who cares to publish an idioto's mistakes?
DeleteWho writes about a nobody?... Don mayor the nobody.
DeleteThis made me remember that time armed robbers were terrorising banks in Ogun State.
ReplyDeleteThat was how a colleague sent a message bankwide that armed robbers were attacking his branch which turned out to be false.
The next thing we know, he was arrested and locked up at elewe Eran. He spent two days there before he was released.
When it comes to security issue, security agencies don't joke with false alarm.
This fibber deserves this and even more! What did he wish to benefit from inciting the already incensed Nigerian populace by posting such falsehood?
ReplyDeleteIf the vanguard reporter who carried the story was also arrested what is special about Audu Maikori? People just like justifying rubbish. If this was America he would have been arrested sinceeeee! His unconfirmed tweets could have started a crisis. It's just like screaming bomb at the airport. He shouldface the music. The apology isn't enough.
ReplyDeleteSo madonna that said she would burn white house in in jail now abi? Them no burn you well to utter than kind of statement in Nigeria whether your ancestors would not be arrested with you
DeleteThe God of Brymo at work I guess.
ReplyDeleteThat's how the label told outrageous lies against him back then.
It would serve as a deterrent to others.
I thought the same thing too!
DeleteWell.... I want to believe he's there for questioning which is the right thing cos he's tweets could have incited violence that's if it didn't ... and this is a call for people to mind how they use social media
ReplyDeleteKpatakpata you use a fake user name on all your accounts and delete your pictures God punish elrufai
DeleteKaiiii Maikori you too talk!..... since KC days o.
ReplyDeleteThey are arresting him leaving lie Mohamed with all the lies & all Apc politicians with all the fake hope they gave to us, the are quick to arrest him while the Fulani's that kill Christians are walking Scot free, trust me what he tweet definitely happened but they sweep it under the feet like the IDP camp bombing & arrest him to intimidate him just like the way they did to tuface on his plan protests, kaduna short devil gov have said worst things to the past govt & nobody arrest him, Nigerians we are done for nobody talks to these animals we have as leaders if you try talking to him they arrest you. May God save us from Apc & co
ReplyDeleteGod bless you with more wisdom.
DeleteMy thoughts exactly.
Same people that applauded Apostle suleiman are condemning Audu, you all shouted when they picked up Apostle but now see it right that Audu should be picked up because he's not a man of God? Did Audu post some really inciting tweets, yes! Where there really killings in Southern kaduna, yes!! Did Audu apologise for his tweets, yes!! Apparently there were killings in southern kaduna but not the students he talked about and he apologised... The man retracted his tweets and apologised so why not give him a warning and release him? Why not ?
ReplyDelete