High-flying television host, Osasu Igbinedon, has been commended by some Nigerians for the role her TV platform, The Osasu Show played in the release of Jones Abiri, a Nigerian journalist, detained by the Department of State Services (DSS) for two years without access to medical, lawyer and family.
Osasu, host of “The Osasu Show (TOS)” every Friday and Lead Host of "The Weekend" every Saturday and Sunday on African Independent Television (AIT), had hosted friends, colleagues and even family members of the detained Abiri on her show barely a few days before the journalist was freed by the DSS on Wednesday.
One of the fans of the show noted that “Jones Abiri has finally been released after two years in DSS detention! You see the effect of your show last week on this issue. I never knew about the issue before you addressed it and I’m sure many others, even those in authority didn’t.”
The admirer of the TOS added that “to the best of my knowledge you are the only one who brought his predicament and those of others like him to the limelight. Congratulations to you and your team on this.”
Abiri’s freedom was confirmed by his lawyer, Samuel Ogala, who revealed that he was released after satisfying the bail condition levied by the court.
Abiri has been in the DSS custody for about two years without trial over allegations of being the leader of the joint revolutionary council of the Joint Niger Delta Liberation Force, a separatist group.
Consequently, he was accused of bombing oil pipelines, planning attacks on Abuja and sending threat to international oil companies and also demanding money from them.
Following public outcry, Abiri, publisher and editor-in-chief of Weekly Source Newspaper, was charged to court two weeks ago and was eventually granted bail by an Abuja court.
The court last week reviewed his bail conditions following an appeal by his legal team and he finally regained his freedom Wednesday evening after perfecting the bail conditions.
His trial continued at the Abuja Magistrate’s Court, Zone 2, Wuse, on Thursday.
Over the years, Osasu has established a pedigree as the voice of the voiceless and oppressed. She has initiated several corporate social initiatives to bring succour to the less privileged, including internally displaced persons whom she had not only featured on her show to amplify their situations but also visited several times to donate relief materials to them.
She was one of the few young Nigerians invited by President Muahammadu Buhari to the Presidential Villa, Abuja to witness the signing into law of the not-too-young to run bill.


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