IBRAHEEM MUHAMMAD
A mild drama ensued yesterday during the commissioning of some projects in Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital by President Mohammadu Buhari, following the harassment of some journalists by security operatives.
The President was in Nasarawa State on a two-day working visit where he was billed to commission several projects executed by the state and federal governments.
One of the projects was the 330KV power sub-station in Akuraba, Lafia where correspondents of News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Radio Nigeria and The Voice newspaper, respectively, were harassed and prevented from gaining entry into the project site despite identifying themselves as journalists assigned to cover the President’s visit.
The fierce-looking security operatives attempted to seize accreditation tags and other work tools belonging to the affected journalists, saying they were working under directive “from above”.
It took the intervention of the Permanent Secretary in the state’s Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, Mr. Yusuf Musa, who pleaded with the security agents not to be brutal in their action.
Musa, who is a member of the publicity sub-committee for the presidential visit affirmed that the journalists were officially accredited to cover the visit and should be allowed to carry out their constitutional responsibility.
Another journalist and a correspondent of Daily Times Newspaper, Augustine Kuza, was also harassed and had his Android phone seized by Department of State Service (DSS) operatives while covering the commissioning of the five-kilometre Kilema-Shinge-BAD road by the President.
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday inaugurated 330/132/33KV sub-station at Akurba community of Lafia, Nasarawa State capital.
The power sub-station was one of the projects billed for inauguration by the President during his two-day official visit to Nasarawa State.