Reports emerging from yesterday confirm that President Buhari in what can be seen as a violation of the freedom of the press, barred some top Nigerian news agencies from covering his visit to Benue state.
Correspondents from The Punch, ThisDay, Vanguard, Tribune, New Telegraph, The Nation and other agencies were denied access to the President and his activities.
Only 7 correspondents from handpicked agencies were allowed access while over 30 other journalists were left out in the cold.
The only news agencies allowed to cover the visit were The News Agency of Nigeria, Daily Sun, Voice of Nigeria, Daily Trust, Leadership, The Guardian and Daily Independent.
According to a correspondent from the Punch, an investigation into the matter showed that the directive came from the Presidency and the idea was to keep the number of pressmen at the event to just seven.
Asides journalists, some protesters who came to register their displeasure over the recent attacks in the state were also barred from getting anywhere close to where the President was to be, they also had their placards seized.
“We wanted the President to know the magnitude of the senseless killings in our communities, but security men, including the police, drove us away and seized some of our placards.” said a protester who was also denied entrance.