Former Minister of Aviation Femi Fani-Kayode has come under fire for verbally assaulting a Daily Trust reporter Mr Eyo Charles who had asked him who was bankrolling his recent trip around Nigeria.
According to the management of Media Trust Limited, publishers of Daily Trust and other titles, the encounter occurred in Calabar, Cross River State, on Thursday 20, August 2020 at a hotel, during a roundtable with invited journalists.
While condemning Fani Kayode’s action as reprehensible, the management of Daily Trust, in a statement issued by its Executive Director/Editor-in-Chief Naziru Mikailu Abubakar, said Daily Trust reporters are responsible professionals, who uphold the tenets of journalism, as well as best practices.
“That Fani-Kayode attacks a reporter doing his job, is an indication of the chilling disregard he has towards the media, and its work in investigating and reporting on issues. As always, we stand in solidarity with our reporters, and will continue to fight for the rights of all journalists,” the statement said.
It urged the Nigeria Police to take note that if anything happens to Charles, Daily Trust will hold Fani-Kayode responsible, especially due to the intensity of the verbal threats he issued during the shocking incident.
The actions of Fani-Kayode are not only reprehensible, but also constitute a setback to press freedom, in a most dire form. This kind of assault raises major concerns over the safety of journalists in Nigeria.
It is repulsive and unacceptable – IPC
In its statement, the International Press Centre (IPC) also condemned the verbal assault inflicted on Charles by Fani-Kayode, said it “views this 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, in the statement issued by its Communications Officer Olutoyin Ayoade, demanded that the former minister should apologise to the Journalist and give an assurance of his safety in view of the alleged further threats.
Utterances negate simple decorum and civility – NUJ
Also condemning the attack on Mr Charles, the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) said “By denigrating the journalist, Fani Kayode has exposed himself as an intolerant and unstable person who will not want his activities closely scrutinised by the media.”
In the statement signed by NUJ President Chris Isiguzo, the union added that “It is instructive to remind the likes of Fani Kayode that it is the Constitutional right of Journalists to monitor and keep a check on people and institutions in power.”
“His reaction was totally unacceptable, dishonourable and reprehensible and we demand for retraction of his untoward, irritating and awkward utterances which negate simple decorum and civility.
“We are more shocked that the same Kayode who had in recent times, used his social media handles to call leaders to account is at the same time attacking a Journalist for a simple demand for him to unmask those behind his nationwide tour. He had already visited six states. This is indeed, terribly disappointing,” the NUJ added.
