Publishers of Daily Trust have threatened to take legal action against Femi Fani-Kayode should any harm befall their reporter, Charles Eyo.
This is coming after Fani-Kayode, former Minister of Aviation went ballistic on Daily Trust reporter during a Press briefing in Calabar, Cross River state.
Fani-Kayode became enraged after the reporter asked him who had been sponsoring his recent trips to different states of the nation.
This former Minister who felt slighted by the question called the reporter “stupid” as launched a barrage of insults at Charles Uyo.
However, reacting to the incident, Daily Trust has notified Nigeria Police Force that Fani-Kayode will be held responsible should any harm befall their reporter.
This was contained in a statement made available to newsmen.
“The management of Media Trust Limited, publishers of Daily Trust and other titles, condemn the reprehensible actions of Femi Fani-Kayode, who in a video clip now gone viral, verbally assaulted – repeatedly – our reporter, Eyo Charles in the course of doing his job.
“The encounter occurred in Calabar, Cross River State, in the morning of Thursday 20, August 2020 at a hotel, during a roundtable with invited journalists.
“During the roundtable, Charles asked Fani-Kayode who was bankrolling his recent trips around Nigeria, to which the ex-minister responded with a raised voice, insults, and eventually a threat to inflict bodily harm on our reporter.
“The barrage continued for some minutes, while bewildered journalists, including our reporter, looked on.
“The video clip, also released on one of the ex-minister’s social media accounts, was conveniently edited to exclude the question asked by Charles, totally devoid of mischief, simply sought clarification and information, like good journalism should.
“Said editing paved the way for a social media lynch mob to rain expletives on our reporter, labelling him as ‘rude’.
“This could not be further away from the truth, and we stand by Charles, and commend him for his calmness during the ordeal.
“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. After all, journalism is part of the bedrock of democracy; therefore practitioners must not be intimidated or threatened as they carry out their work.“