Soyinka Faults Excessive Security Around Seyi Tinubu

Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka has faulted the large number of armed security personnel accompanying the son of President Bola Tinubu, Seyi.

Speaking at the 20th Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) Awards in Lagos on Tuesday, Soyinka said the excessive deployment of security personnel around the President’s family reflected poorly on Nigeria’s priorities and security architecture.

He stressed that while presidents around the world have families, the privilege must not be abused.

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“I was coming out of my hotel, and I saw what looked like a film set. I said, Oh, they are shooting a film on the ground of the hotel,” he recalled.

“And a young man detached himself from the actors, came over and greeted me very politely. A very nice young man. And I said, ‘Are you shooting somebody?’

“I said, ‘I’m just joking. Are you shooting a film?’ I looked around, and there was nearly a whole battalion occupying the grounds of the hotel in Ikoyi.

“So, when I got back in my car, and I asked the driver who that young man was, and he told me, and I saw this SWAT team, a mixture; they were heavily armed, at least some 15 or so heavily armed to the teeth security personnel looked sufficient to take over a small country neighbouring city like Benin.”

According to Soyinka, he was alarmed enough that he placed a call to the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, to confirm whether the deployment was official and justifiable.

“I was so astonished that I started looking for the national security adviser. I said, ‘Track him down for me. ’ I think they got him somewhere in Paris. But he was with the president; he was in a meeting. Then, I said I’ve just seen something I can’t believe I don’t understand, and I described the scene to him,” he said.