"I will be present in 2015 and I will do what I am going to do to ensure that Jonathan wins in 2015" - Asari Dokubo

Former President of Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) and leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF), Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, who was arrested last week in Republic of Benin, said he was arrested and interrogated by Benin officials over an allegation from Nigeria that he is a leader of Boko Haram.

He has accused those who opposed the second term ambition of President Goodluck Jonathan of masterminding his arrest.

Speaking to journalists at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, he described the report that Jonathan sent a presidential jet to fly him into Nigeria from Benin as lies.

His words: "Crisis is normal, it can also happen here in Nigeria, it can happen anywhere in the world. The people and government of Republic of Benin have no problem with me.

"But if people alleged that somebody is a leader of Boko Haram, the government of that country will investigate the person.

"The allegation has much to do with 2015 because when you read comments on social media, you find out that people who are against President Goodluck Jonathan said they should vilify me, and make sure I die before 2015.

"But they are not going to succeed. I am not going to die. I will be present in 2015, and I will do what I am going to do to ensure that Jonathan wins in 2015. There is nothing they can do about it. This is their last fight and it is so unfortunate that the way they are going with show how immature they are.

"I just arrived from Cotonou. I drove in my car from Cotonou to Lagos airport where I boarded a flight to Abuja. The report is not true. No presidential jet was sent to me."

Asked whether President Jonathan intervened to secure his release, he said: "It is not just only President Jonathan that intervened, Nigerians generally intervened. The number of people that came into Cotonou the day I was taken in, and the following day, were over one thousand."