PUNCH Demand Apology Over Expulsion Of Its Reporter From Aso Rock

The Punch Newspapers has requested the Chief Security Officer, CSO, to President Muhammadu Buhari, Bashir Abubakar, to apologize over Monday’s expulsion of its State House correspondent, Lekan Adetayo. The issue started on Monday after Bashir Abubakar, President Muhammadu Buhari’s chief security officer (CSO),  expelled Olalekan Adetayo, state house correspondent of the newspaper, from the villa.

Abubakar had summoned Adetayo over two reports – ‘Seat of power’s event centers going into extinction’ and ‘Fresh anxiety in Aso Rock over Buhari’s poor health’ published on Saturday and Sunday respectively. The CSO directed that his accreditation tag is withdrawn and that he should be escorted out of the villa after several questioning.

In reaction to the development, PUNCH said Abubakar abused his office by conducting a “bizarre, one-sided summary trial in his office”.

It also called for Abubakar to be “heavily” reprimanded and censured by his principal and superiors.

“Abubakar was the complainant, prosecutor, and the judge. The defendants were The PUNCH and its State House Correspondent, Olalekan Adetayo, whom Abubakar accused of writing a ‘sponsored story’ and penning an ill-motivated opinion article on the President’s health,” PUNCH wrote.