A photograph of President Muhammadu Buhari and his
wife, Aisha.
• Daughter smuggled in through back door • Guests
keep mum on president’s health
• Met police briefed on Nigerian situation
• Balarabe
Musa wants illness probed
Members of President Muhammadu Buhari’s
household continued to evade The Guardian’s
reporter in London yesterday.They were forced
to enter the Abuja House in London through
the back door so as not to be seen by the
reporter when a Mercedes Jeep bringing them
back to the premises arrived around 4:09 p.m.
On sighting the reporter outside the official
residence of the Nigerian high commissioner to
the United Kingdom, the driver drove very
close to the main door and by the time they
noticed the reporter had run to the second
gate, they didn’t use the front entrance that
had been opened by one of the members of
staff inside.
Rather, the vehicle reversed very close to the
side door and dropped off the occupants.
One
of the girls sighted on Sunday looked back
carefully, and her eyes and those of the
reporter met, before she went in through the
side door.
Security staff at the Abuja House hung the
phone on The Guardian when the reporter
arrived at 3:50 p.m. yesterday.When the entry
phone was pressed and a security official
picked it, the reporter requested to speak to
“any member of the house or official of the
High Commission.” The security man replied:
“You have to go to the High Commission.”
When told that “I don’t want the High
Commission, I want to speak to any member of
the staff working here,” he insisted, “You have
to go to the High Commission, there’s no one to
speak to,” before
angrily hanging up.
On Sunday, two guests leaving the residence
around 4:54 p.m. were greeted “evening, sirs”
before being asked twice, “Did you see Mr.
president?” None of the two replied, but gave
this reporter a look, before walking to the end
of the street.
The two London Metropolitan Police constables
-Marlett and Sock – who were called to arrest
The Guardian reporter in front of the Abuja
House, on Sunday afternoon were given a crash
course on why Nigerians want to know the true
situation of President Buhari’s extended
medical leave.
“This is the official residence of the Nigerian
High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, so
it is Nigerian property,” the reporter told the
policemen, as they started interrogating him
about why he had come to spend the Sunday
afternoon at the Kensington address.
The Guardian explained: “Our president has
been on vacation since last month and should
have resumed since February 6, but we are
being told by his people that he is resting here
and awaiting the results of some medical tests.
So, Nigerians just want to know if he is here
and for him to speak to them.”
One guest who was departing could not be
smuggled through the side door as he was on a
wheelchair. The presence of The Guardian in
front of the house seemed to have created a
dilemma for people in the Abuja House, as it
took them about 10 minutes between when a
silver Mercedes Benz cab was parked in front of
the house and when the wheelchair-bound
guest was brought out and carried inside the
cab. About three people accompanied him out
and everyone was smiling until the reporter
tried waving the Benz to stop on its way out.
The action drew the fury of one of the insiders,
a grey-haired man. He approached the
reporter, pointing his finger and warning him
not to stop the cab nor talk to the people inside
as it drove out around 4:30 p.m.
About five minutes later, another blue
Mercedes Benz arrived with a female occupant.
Not only did she too used the side entrance, the
driver was instructed to park so close to its
door, when it was time to offload the contents
of the boot.
Meanwhile, a pro-democracy and non-
governmental organisation, Human Rights
Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has
condemned the reported harassment of The
Guardian reporter by officials of the Abuja
House at the weekend.
The group also asked the National Assembly to
sanction officials of the country’s embassy in
Ontario, Canada who were accused of
corruption and extorting Nigerians to renew
their passports.
In a statement by the National Coordinator,
Emmanuel Onwubiko and National Media
Affairs Director, Zainab Yusuf in Abuja
yesterday, HURIWA described the invitation of
the Metropolitan Police of London to arrest the
journalist as outrageous, more so when the
reporter was legitimately attempting to provide
Nigerian readers with accurate information on
the wellbeing of President Buhari.
HURIWA faulted the claim by the embassy
officials that the Nigerian house was a private
residence, saying the place was acquired with
taxpayers’ money, so it is a public asset
belonging to the people of Nigeria.
On the allegation of corruption at the Nigerian
embassy in Canada, the rights group urged
Senate President, Bukola Saraki, and Speaker of
the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara
to intervene and ensure transparency in their
operations.
Also, the Chairman of the Conference of Nigeria
Political Parties (CNPP), Alhaji Balarabe Musa
has urged the National Assembly to commence
an investigation into the state of health of
Buhari and his eligibility to continue as the
country’s head of state.
In an interview with The Guardian, Musa
blamed the executive for the poor management
of information on the president’s treatment
abroad.
“That is why we want the Senate President and
Speaker of the House of Representatives to
commence an investigation and unveil the
truth about the health of the president. If he is
found not capable of continuing in office as
head of state, he should resign,” he said.
