The incident occurred when Malala was visiting a junior school managed by UNICEF at the Bakassi Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in Maiduguri metropolis.
Overzealous personnel of the United Nation Children and Education Fund (UNICEF) prevented journalists from covering activities of the United Nation’s peace ambassador, Malala Yousafzai, when she visited Maiduguri on Tuesday.
The incident occurred when Malala was visiting a junior school managed by UNICEF at the Bakassi Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in Maiduguri metropolis.
A senior officer of the UNICEF asked journalists representing various media organizations to leave, saying that they were not invited to cover the event.
The official prevented them from getting access to the school where Malala was meeting students.
Other officials humiliated by UNICEF staff include the Borno State Commissioner of Education, members of the National Assembly, officials of the Borno State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and police officers.
“We have arrangements. Only the foreign media are permitted to enter the venue or snap pictures of Malala, we do not need local media,” the official said. “Only the [foreign] press and people in the entourage will go inside.”
Some of the reporters protested and insisted that they should be allowed to cover the event for the benefit of Nigerians.
Another UNICEF staff interjected and began shouting at journalists, saying that they were not invited to the event.
“People like you can not come and talk to me. You are a nobody, get out from this place,” the UNICEF officer told one reporter.
Despite pleading with the UNICEF officers, the journalists left the IDP camp and school without covering the event.
