The arrest Friday night of Audu Maikori, CEO of Chocolate City Entertainment, has divided Nigerians on social media along party lines.
Police picked up Mr. Maikori, 41, in Lagos around noon Friday for alleged attempt to “incite” the public, and subsequently transferred him to Force Headquarters in Abuja, his lawyer said.
Mr. Maikori’s lawyer, Mark Jacobs, said the arrest was in connection with a series of tweets posted by Mr. Maikori about four weeks ago in which he alleged the killing of some Southern Kaduna residents by Fulani herdsmen.
But details of the tweets, which Mr. Maikori said were obtained from his driver, turned out to be false, earning him vicious social media backlash.
Mr. Maikori later retracted and apologised for the false information. A magistrate in Kaduna issued a warrant for his arrest, his lawyer said.
Police spokesman, Jimoh Moshood, told PREMIUM TIMES Saturday morning he was about to travel out of Abuja and would provide first updates about the arrest “in a few hours.”
But in the meantime, Mr. Maikori’s arrest is generating anger amongst his supporters, who lean towards the PDP, and praise amongst his critics, many of whom support the APC.
The two factions appeared to have set the tone for pro and anti-government rhetoric in the fallout.
The #FreeAudu hashtag which his supporters created to demand his release had since been hijacked by his critics to make case for his continued detention.
Those sympathetic to Mr. Maikori accused Governor Nasir el-Rufai of trying to silence him for his pro-Southern Kaduna advocacy.
They also drew similarities between Mr. Maikori’s false claims to some unsubstantiated allegations made by Mr. El-Rufai while he was a leading voice of political opposition to the administration of Goodluck Jonathan.
![Audu Maikori[Photo credit: www.trendysturvsblog.com]](https://i0.wp.com/media.premiumtimesng.com/wp-content/files/2017/02/Audu-Maikori-e1487367782601.jpg?fit=700%2C394)
Police picked up Mr. Maikori, 41, in Lagos around noon Friday for alleged attempt to “incite” the public, and subsequently transferred him to Force Headquarters in Abuja, his lawyer said.
Mr. Maikori’s lawyer, Mark Jacobs, said the arrest was in connection with a series of tweets posted by Mr. Maikori about four weeks ago in which he alleged the killing of some Southern Kaduna residents by Fulani herdsmen.
But details of the tweets, which Mr. Maikori said were obtained from his driver, turned out to be false, earning him vicious social media backlash.
Mr. Maikori later retracted and apologised for the false information. A magistrate in Kaduna issued a warrant for his arrest, his lawyer said.
Police spokesman, Jimoh Moshood, told PREMIUM TIMES Saturday morning he was about to travel out of Abuja and would provide first updates about the arrest “in a few hours.”
But in the meantime, Mr. Maikori’s arrest is generating anger amongst his supporters, who lean towards the PDP, and praise amongst his critics, many of whom support the APC.
The two factions appeared to have set the tone for pro and anti-government rhetoric in the fallout.
The #FreeAudu hashtag which his supporters created to demand his release had since been hijacked by his critics to make case for his continued detention.
Those sympathetic to Mr. Maikori accused Governor Nasir el-Rufai of trying to silence him for his pro-Southern Kaduna advocacy.
They also drew similarities between Mr. Maikori’s false claims to some unsubstantiated allegations made by Mr. El-Rufai while he was a leading voice of political opposition to the administration of Goodluck Jonathan.
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