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| We don't know Samuel Akwei and did not say Igbo man wanted to bomb 3rd Mainland Bridge - AFP retracts false report against Biafrans after IPOB came out gun blazing |
After a deliberate false news by the AFP linking Biafran nationalists as culprits behind the alleged plot to bomb the 3rd mainland Bridge, AFP has come out to deny the report alongside the reporter. According to the report titled Nigerian Police say they have foiled a Biafran Separatist Attack “The main suspect is an Igbo, a native of the Ese Odo region of Ondo State. He is an expert in explosives, a specialist in the manufacture of large scale explosive devices for terrorist purposes.” The Indigenous People of Biafra through their spokespersons Dr Clifford Iroanya and Barr Emma Mmezu, called on the AFP to apologise for the false report.
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9:16 PM (21 hours ago)
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Hello Phil Hazlewood,
Please kindly respond with apologies for crimes committed by your reporter, Ismail Akwei. See the syndicated report from your organization which he sent to another media organization. I expect your apologies within the next 1 hour of receiving this email.
3rd Mainland Bridge Bomber: Caught Lying Again! How Buhari and agents are defaming Biafrans - IPOB blows hot
5:36 PM (23 hours ago)
to Clifford, austin, chonyesoh, me, sjohanssen, madibachambers, joseph.abuku, thullih, onwujubac, amakabiachi, Emeka, osaro.odemwing., amnestyis, alphenwezeeze, amina.maikori, Titilayo, afplagos, okonkwoeze2005, nanonitsha, afubanimo, Ike, Hafsat, c_mario1, Mefor, Gpoobi
Dear Clifford Iroanya and Emma Nmezu,
Re your press release of December 30. Please be aware:
1/ AFP does not employ anyone by the name of Ismail Akwei in Nigeria, Ghana or anywhere else on the world, either as a staffer or on a freelance basis.
2/ AFP did not accept money from anyone to publish this story nor is it ever remunerated for publishing any information. The details came from a federal police press release that was distributed widely to both Nigerian and international media on December 28.
3/ The police press release (copied below) does not mention IPOB or Biafra
4/ As a result the following paragraph you cite in your press release was not in the AFP copy:
“The main suspect is an Igbo, a native of the Ese Odo region of Ondo State. He is an expert in explosives, a specialist in the manufacture of large scale explosive devices for terrorist purposes.”
Please find below the original copy as published on the AFP news wire on December 29 for your information.
AFP Lagos had been on IPOB's press release distribution list for some time. You have our email address. Yet you failed to contact us with any grievance or to cross-check any of the information published before sending out this press release with multiple inaccuracies. You have also failed to provide a link to the article with which you take issue.
Please let me know what steps you will take to address your error. I would expect a retraction and an apology at the very least.
Yours sincerely,
Phil Hazlewood,
AFP bureau chief Nigeria, Ghana, Benin, Togo
Sent from my iPhone
Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Thursday 12/29/2016 - 08:41 | 274 words
Nigerian police say they have thwarted a plot to bomb a key bridge in the commercial hub of Lagos, arresting the alleged mastermind and seizing a cache of arms and ammunition.
Police arrested Abiodun Amos, the suspected leader of a "militant gang", on November 2 after "painstaking surveillance and monitoring," national police spokesman Don Awunah said in a statement late Wednesday.
Authorities suspect the target was the 13-kilometre (nine-mile) 3rd Mainland Bridge, which links the swanky business district of Lagos Island with the rest of the sprawling city of some 20 million inhabitants.
The attack would have caused "devastating" damage to Lagos and Nigeria, Awunah said.
The main suspect is an "explosive expert" with skills in assembling large-scale bombs, the police said, adding that they had seized two AK 47 rifles at his hideout in the Ikorodu area of the city.
Information obtained from Amos led police to other plot members and they found two cartons of explosives and 125 detonators in the boot of a car as the alleged conspirators were en route to the bridge.
Police were now trailing fleeing members of the gang, he added.
Lagos, Nigeria's largest and commercial hub, has been on security alert following rumours of militant attacks in recent months.
Recently, the authorities demolished some waterfront communities in a bid to rid the city of criminals using them as hideouts.
Nigeria's oil-producing south has been plagued by renewed rebel attacks on oil pipelines and facilities that have crippled output at a time of global low prices, hammering government revenue.
Nigeria depends on oil for 90 percent of foreign exchange earnings and 70 percent of government revenue.
joa/ric
© 1994-2016 Agence France-Presse
Ref No.CZ:5300/FPRD/FHQ/ABJ/VOL.1/
The Director of News
…………………………
FHQ ABUJA - DECEMBER 28, 2016:
PRESS RELEASE
ARREST OF NIGER DELTA MILITANT PLANNING TO BOMB THIRD MAINLAND BRIDGE IN LAGOS, RECOVERY OF CARTONS OF EXPLOSIVE DEVICES AND DETONATORS AND TWO (2) AK 47 RIFLES
PRICIPAL SUSPECT:
i. Abiodun Amos (AKA) Senti (43) years
Exhibits
i. Two (2) Cartons of Explosive Devices and 125 Detonators.
ii. Two (2) AK 47 Rifles.
Working on credible intelligence at the disposal of the Nigeria Police Force indicating that criminal militant elements are planning series of attacks on government infrastructures and facilities in Lagos state, the Inspector General of Police, IGP Ibrahim K. Idris NPM, mni, directed the Intelligent Response Team (IRT) to use the Technical platform of the Force to trail and arrest the militant gang before they carry out the heinous crime.
2. After a painstaking surveillance and monitoring by the police (IRT) team, the principal suspect Abiodun Amos alias SENTI who is the leader of the Militant Gang planning to bomb the 3rd Mainland Bridge in Lagos was arrested on 2nd of November, 2016 in a hideout at the bank of Majidun River in Ikorodu area of Lagos State and two AK 47 rifles recovered from his possession. The principal suspect is an Ijaw man and a Native of Ese Odo LGA of Ondo State. He is an Explosives Expert who specializes in assembling and modifying large scale Improvised Explosives Devices (IED) for terrorist act. The suspect also volunteered confessional statement to the Police and named other members of the militant group that are still at large.
3. In the course of further investigation into the case, one of the suspects at large mentioned to the Police by the principal suspect as the person in possession of their explosive devices and the detonators was trailed by the Police (IRT) Operatives on the 26thDecember, 2016 while conveying in a Toyota Camry Car, two (2) Cartons of Galantine Dynamite Explosives and Hundred and twenty five (125) Detonators in the boot of the Car in a location in Ikorodu area of Lagos state on his way to link up with the other members of the militant gang to blow up the 3rd mainland bridge. The Suspect, on sighting the Intelligence Response Team Operatives jumped out of the Car and escaped into the nearby Bush. The explosive devices and the detonators were recovered by the Police IRT operatives and the Explosive Ordinance Department, and the attack that would have been a major devastating and colossus damage to Lagos state and Nigeria was averted. Further investigation is being intensified to arrest all the other members of the militant gang still at large.
4. The IGP is hereby assuring all Nigerians of adequate security and commitment of the Nigeria Police Force to work assiduously to nip in the bud militancy and other forms of criminalities that can throw the country into a large scale mayhem and massive loss of lives and properties. He urges every Nigerian to remain calm, be law abiding and see themselves as stakeholders with the Force in making the country safer.
DCP DON N. AWUNAH, fsi
FORCE PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER,
FORCE HEADQUARTERS,
ABUJA.
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