• Daughter, Saraki sighted at Abuja House
• Fayose flays APC leaders over president’s
health
Security staff at the Abuja House in
London yesterday called in policemen to
arrest a correspondent of The Guardian
who was on the premises to see
President Muhammadu Buhari and
possibly interview him.
When the correspondent told a member
of staff at the Abuja House, the official
residence of the Nigerian High
commissioner to the United Kingdom,
yesterday afternoon that he had come to
see the president, he replied: “As far as
I’m concerned, he’s not here.”
At 2:50 p.m., when a black Mercedes
jeep arrived, the occupant sitting by the
driver rolled down the glass and asked
the The Guardian correspondent, “why
are you here?” “When I told him that l
was a reporter with The Guardian and l
had come to see if the president was
there and to interview him, he looked
quite irritated and replied angrily: ‘he’s
not here, you can’t see anybody here.’ “
In an extraordinary move, two police
officers, Constables Marlett and Stock,
were called in by the security staff at
the Abuja House to arrest the reporter.
When both arrived on their
motorcycles, they took the reporter’s
name and date of birth and
subsequently made a check on the
national database, before staying
around for about 20 minutes and then
left.
Prior to that, the security staff
threatened the reporter with the police
when he called at the Kensington
residence to interview President Buhari
about his continued stay in the UK.
A few minutes after The Guardian
arrived at the Abuja House, just after
1:00 p.m., wanting to speak to the high
commissioner, the reporter was directed
to go to the Embassy- Nigerian House at
Northumberland Avenue. “Somebody
should be there,” he was told.
Around 1:20 p.m., when a man and a
teenage-looking girl wearing glasses
pressed the buzzer, a security officer
appeared to open the gate for the duo.
When asked:”Is that the daughter of the
president?” – judging by her
resemblance of the First Lady- the
security officer replied: “I don’t know.”
He then reiterated that the reporter
should go to the office at
Northumberland Avenue.
When The Guardian pressed the buzzer
about five minutes later, the security
man sounded angry and threatened to
call the police even when the reporter
disclosed his identity and said he had
come to speak to the president or any
member of staff of the residence. “You
should realise this is a private place and
I will call the police,” he said. When he
was immediately corrected and told that
the reporter was standing outside in a
public place, he then said:” l won’t
speak to you again.”
But around 1:40 p.m., when two guests
arrived, the reporter shook hand with
one of them and asked, “have you come
to see Mr. President?” He replied
cheerfully, saying “yes”, but he didn’t
enter the compound. He left about 15
minutes later.
Another security officer came out
shortly after and told the reporter to
move away from the main gate. “Excuse
me, you can’t just stand here,” he said.
Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, was
also at Abuja House, a strong indication
that Buhari may actually be there. At
5:13p.m., Saraki emerged from the
house in a black suit, accompanied by a
male aide.
“Hello, Senate president, hello Senate
president,” The Guardian said to him
from outside the gate, before he entered
an official car and was driven away.
Meanwhile, Ekiti State Governor
Ayodele Fayose has accused the leaders
of the All Progressives Congress (APC) of
politicising the health status of
President Buhari by their visitation to
London which he described as “make-
belief and too much of eye-service.”
Fayose said he had “temporarily
suspended” his criticism of the president
because of his health challenges. The
governor spoke on a live programme
tagged, ‘Meet Your Governor’ aired on
the state-owned Ekiti Television and
Radio Stations on Saturday.
Fayose who prayed for sound health for
the president said his desire for a better
Nigeria accounted for why he had been
criticising the Federal Government
when things were not done the right
way.
“I don’t have any problem with the
president; the only problem I have is
with his handlers. They will say
something today and say
another tomorrow. Anybody can fall
sick,” he said.
Besides, the Anglican Bishop, Diocese of
Lagos West, Rt. Revd. James Olusola
Odedeji yesterday cautioned Nigerians
against wishing the president dead but
rather pray for his health and wellbeing
so that he could succeed in delivering
his electoral promises to the nation.
Odedeji spoke at the induction and
installation of Venerable Adegoke
Oludare Agara as the Dean of
Archbishop Vining Memorial Church
Cathedral held at the church in Ikeja,
Lagos.
He said: “It is unfortunate in this
country that Nigerians do hate their
leaders. The rate at which people are
willing to wish the president of the
country dead is alarming. What are we
going to gain if he dies?’’
