ARISE NEWS: 24-hour cable service soars on air
By Ismail Adebayo & Ronald Mutum
The odds appear to be gathering against the Nigerian army over the two Al-Jazeera journalists detained since March 24, 2015. They have spent 13 days under arrest in a hotel in Maiduguri, Borno State. Messrs Ahmed Idris and Ali Mustapha have sued the army and its chief, Lt. General Kenneth Minimah, for trampling on their fundamental rights.
This came as various media organizations, such as the Nigerian Union of Journalists, (NUJ) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), were posed for a showdown with the military authorities on their continued detention.
Their lawyer, Mr Femi Falana, SAN, has sought a declaration that the arrest and their continued detention by the military were illegal and unconstitutional, thereby violating their right to personal liberty guaranteed by Section 34, 35 and 41 of the constitution and Article 5, 6 and 12 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Right Act.
He also sought an order directing the Nigerian military and General Minimah to release the journalists from illegal military custody immediately. The reliefs were sought on the ground that the applicants were not soldiers and that the military had no right
WBy Ismail Adebayo
ith its broadcast hubs in London, New York, Johannesburg and Lagos, ARISE NEWS reports 24 hour news, hard facts, providing a range of opinions and insightful analysis - all day, every day on its programmes like: Africa Wrap, Arise America, Arise News UK, Arise ShowBiz Weekly, Arise Global Sports Report and ARISE Interviews.
Committed to promote and celebrate all that is African across all continents and engaging citizens of the continent in the biggest stories of the day, the channel on its Africa Wrap delivers real time international news and entertainment to African audiences, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, on cable, satellite, mobile and hand held devices and on the internet.
Since the commencement its broadcast operation as a 24-hour international news TV, it appears set to compete with the existing giants like CNN, AL-JAZEERA, BBC TV and others in its determination to be a strong voice in Africa , US to arrest them.
Last week Al- Jazeera demanded their immediate release. Al-Jazeera, on its website, said: “As Nigeria is on the cusp of a democratic civilian transition, we call on the Nigerian authorities to release Ahmed and Ali. Detaining two respectable journalists without any reason is unacceptable”.
The NUJ President, Mohammed Garba, last week, said the union was planning a demonstration over the continued detention of the two journalists. and other parts of the world with a further eight bureaux around the globe stretching from Beijing to Rio de Janeiro.
Its Editor-In-Chief and Chairman, Chief Nduka Obaigbena, early this year said the TV’s mission is to cover issues, world events that matter and to truly represent the
The Nigerian Civil Society Situation Room, a coalition of organisations working in support of credible and transparent elections in Nigeria, also condemned their detention. Like the NUJ, it called on the military to release them immediately.
According to the military authorities, Idris and Mustapha - reporter and cameraman respectively of the news television - were arrested in their hotel room in Maiduguri, Borno State for “loitering” in areas were combat experiences of under-served communities. “ARISE NEWS is about people, about entertainment - about the stories and events that affect the lives of our viewers - wherever they may be,” he said.
The Chairman and Editor-inChief of ARISE NEWS and ARISE 360 is a leading African media operations were still on-going.
A statement by the Defence Headquarters said the journalists were moving around “restricted areas” in Yobe and Borno States without protection, accreditation or clearance.
But Al-Jazeera has insisted that the journalists were officially accredited by the Independent National Electoral Commission in Abuja with the clearance to report from anywhere in Nigeria during the entire election period.
West African Representative entrepreneur. Obaigbena is owner and publisher of the global glossy style, fashion and culture magazine, ARISE, and the publisher of THISDAY, one of Nigeria’s biggest daily newspapers.
Other personalities behind ARISE NEWS are: Rob Beynon, a former executive producer with ITN and Sky News is its International Head of Operations. Lyne Pitts, a former Vice President of NBC News and an Executive Producer with CBS America is heading the US operation from its studio complex in New York. Nigerian born John Chiahemen, a former Reuters bureau chief, is now Managing Editor and Head of Africa. David Glencorse, a former Sky News anchorman, international reporter is the Global Editorial Director of the company, while Nick Jennings, a former Head of International News at Sky News is Director of News and News Gathering.
Jeff Koinange, a former CNN’s Africa reporter, is based in Johannesburg as an anchorman and correspondent for ARISE NEWS and the South Africanborn Heather Scott, a former Sky News anchorwoman and business correspondent, is its anchor and correspondent.
Few weeks before it started broadcast operation, Obaigbena said the channel was not funded by the State and it has no State agenda, whether in Africa, the Middle East, Western and Eastern Europe, Russia, China, Asia, the United States or the Americas.