Ahmad Isah, Brekete Family host, comes under scrutiny in BBC documentary
Ahmad Isah, a human rights campaigner known for helping ordinary people get justice via his radio and television shows, has come under scrutiny in a new BBC Africa Eye documentary.
Isah, popularly known as ordinary president, hosts a programme titled: “Berekete Family” which is aired on Human Rights Radio 101.1 in Abuja and streams online via social media platforms.
The programme offers ordinary citizens the opportunity to tell their stories bordering on injustice they have experienced.
The latest BBC documentary carried out by Peter Nkanga, a journalist, x-rays the programme and how Isah uses it to help ordinary citizens to get justice; he also helps solicit funds for victims when necessary.
In the 26-minute documentary, a crowd of people are seen waiting for the activist in the studio.
Stories from victims cut across injustice suffered in the hands of fellow citizens, including politicians and law enforcement agencies.
Although the impact of Isah’s ‘Berekete’ family programme is commendable as it helps many ordinary people, his methods appear controversial.
In the documentary, the activist is seen slapping a lady, who was accused of setting her brother’s daughter on fire over an allegation that the girl is a witch.
Prior to the scene when the suspect appears on the programme, the activist is seen listening to the story from the girl’s mother and another third party.
Thereafter, Isah places a telephone call to a top police officer in Abuja and asks that security agents be directed to arrest the suspect.
When the lady is arrested, she is brought to the programme for questioning.
However, while the human rights campaigner is questioning the lady who allegedly committed the crime, Isah slaps her more than three times as seen in the documentary.
The series of slaps come when the lady is reluctant to answer the question about where she got the information that the girl is a witch.
Meanwhile, he had earlier crowdsourced the sum of N2 million for the treatment of the girl in the hospital.
In his remarks, Anthony Ojukwu, executive secretary of National Human Rights Commission, says the programme does not “follow international standards for handling complaints of human rights violations”.
Ojukwu notes that those accused during the programme for human rights violations are not given the right of fair hearing and that the rules of confidentiality are breached.
When the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) was presented with the findings of the documentary, it said that it had received “high number of complaints” about the conduct of the station and that it frequently violates ethical standards.
The journalist who carried out the documentary said Isah did not respond to his findings.
You can watch the documentary here.
BBC and their neo-colonialist cum journalist don come again.
The issue at hand is the definition or what the western world regards as Human Rights, and how same can be uphold for the betterment of humanity.
To me, the concept of Human Rights and what the manifestations of its violation are are subject to political, economic, social, cultural, and geographical backgrounds and interpretation of the people or community in question. The entire Africa and Nigeria in particular are always quick to make a reference to international or global best practice of doing things forgetting the fact that we’re a different ‘specie’ of mankind who doesn’t have the same economic, social, cultural, and political mindset like the the people (westerners) we are looking up to as standard-bearers.
As good as some of the tennents of the global Human Rights are, some are still alien to us as Africans and our inability to fall in line wholesomely shouldn’t be blown out of portion.
Ahmed Issa, the Berekete host/broadcaster should not be painted black for that singular and regretful act of being human, rather we should all be in support of the pro-bono contributions to humanity.
How many of us will be strong enough not to be emotionally impulsive when you catches your partner in your matrimonial bed with a stranger? Human Rights requires you to be unemotive and just quitely walk out.
Your answer to this was what was on display in the clip.
Ahmed Issa did the right thing, it’s a pity that Nigerians are the one that HASHTAG Ahmed Issa as a bad person. BBC did not see him when he (Issa) is giving things to people of less privileged, they did not give him accolade for supporting poor people but now they believe they can trash the man out of public places, it can never be done. BBC face your country issues, if any body do this in UK, right activist will be the one to call that person inhuman and making sure that he or she spend the rest of their life in prison with act of 2nd degree murder or 3rd degree murder or what the murder case they want to use for it.
It is better for us to know that the lady committed an act of murder and she need punishment, even though Ahmed Issa don’t have right to
What is BBC problem? These is what is killing their own children because they lack home training and also no respect for other human being or neighbor and that is why some of them are carrying gun up and down to kill one another. They should train their children first.
If I’m the one, I will use wood to beat her
Ordinary Ahmed is not perfect, so don’t expect perfection from him ok. Did Somebody sent you to come and investigate him or are you interested in his downfall? there is nothing wrong in what he did, you are a father now. Just put yourself in that girl parent shoe, infact i will do more than that to that girl, i believe you will do more than even the president you interview will do worse than that. Abey make una leave Ordinary President