London police called in to arrest Nigerian reporter who made attempts to see Buhari

By Jerrywright Ukwu

A Nigerian reporter with The Guardian has been told President Muhammadu Buhari is not at the Abuja House in London.

The reporter was given the information by an unidentified official when he made attempts to see the president.

President Buhari

According to the reporter’s account, he told a member of staff at the Abuja House, the official residence of the Nigerian High commissioner to the United Kingdom, on Sunday, February 19 that he had come to see the president, but he was told: “As far as I’m concerned, he’s not here.”

The reporter also said security staff at the Abuja House called in policemen to arrest him for visiting the residence.

He wrote: “At 2:50 p.m., when a black Mercedes jeep arrived, the occupant sitting by the driver rolled down the glass and asked, “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.' ”

The report stated that: “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.”

The reporter also confirmed citing Senate president, Bukola Saraki in the premises.

“At 5:13p.m., Saraki emerged from the house in a black suit, accompanied by a male aide, before he entered an official car and was driven away,” he added.

The presidency had announced President Buhari's meeting with the Senate president yesterday evening, which made it the second meeting in one week between the duo.

President Buhari has been in London since January 19. The presidency had first announced that he was there for a 10-day leave. But he has since extended the leave on medical grounds.

·         Source: Naij.com