Following the barrage of criticisms of his verbal abuse of the Daily Trust reporter in Calabar last Thursday, Former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode has expressed his regrets over the encounter.
In four tweets on Wednesday morning through his Twitter handle @RealFFK, he said he has withdrawn the word stupid he used during the encounter.
“II met with my advisors & I wish to say the following. I hereby withdraw the word “stupid” which I used in my encounter with a journalist in Calabar. I have many friends in the media who I offended by losing my cool & using such words. I hereby express my regrets for doing so.1/4
.”I do however wish to state categorically that no threat of physical harm was ever made to the journalist in question and neither did I send anyone to threaten him. Anyone that says otherwise is lying and I challenge them to bring the proof. 2/4
“I would never seek to physically harm a journalist. For the last 30 years, I have defended & worked with journalists & fought for the right of freedom of expression. I am also very close to many in that profession. I would be the last to seek to disparage those that are..3/4
“honourable and noble within its ranks. I hope that this will assuage the pain and anger of anyone that was hurt or offended by this ugly episode. I have now put this matter behind me and moved on. Now my tour of the South continues. Moving to another state today!”
On Tuesday, the International Press Centre (IPC) condemned the verbal assault inflicted on the Journalist by Fani Kayode.
The journalist, Eyo Charles, who reports for the Daily Trust Newspaper, was seen in a video posted by The Cable, an online newspaper. asking the former Minister at a press conference in Calabar, Cross Rivers State, Nigeria, if he was funded to embark on a tour of projects in the state to which he responded with verbal attacks.
The Minister was also seen threatening to deal with Journalist Eyo Charles, who has since claimed that a security detail in the entourage of the former Minister confronted him after the press conference.
IPC in a statement by its Communications Officer, Olutoyin Ayoade viewed the development as repulsive and unacceptable since there was nothing wrong with Journalist Eyo Charles wanting to know if the tour was an independent initiative or a sponsored one.
“The former Minister had the option of not answering the question and the abuses were totally out of place in the context of the event”, the Executive Director of IPC, Mr. Lanre Arogundade said.
IPC, therefore, demands that the former Minister should apologise to the Journalist and give assurance of his safety in view of the alleged further threats.
IPC said journalists who are saddled with the constitutional obligation of monitoring governance and holding the government accountable to the people should not be subjected to harassment in the course of duty.
SGD:
Olutoyin Ayoade
Communications Officer
International Press Centre, Lagos
