Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka has criticized the heavy security detail surrounding Seyi Tinubu, son of President Bola Tinubu.
Speaking at the 20th Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) Awards in Lagos on Tuesday, Soyinka said the excessive deployment of armed personnel around the President’s family reflected poorly on Nigeria’s priorities and security architecture.
He stressed that while presidents worldwide have families, the associated privileges must not be abused.
“I was coming out of my hotel and thought a film was being shot,” Soyinka recalled. “A young man stepped aside from what looked like actors and greeted me politely. I joked, ‘Are you shooting a film?’ Then I looked around and saw nearly a whole battalion occupying the hotel grounds in Ikoyi.”
Soyinka described the security personnel as a SWAT team mixture, “heavily armed, at least 15 or so, enough to take over a small neighboring city like Benin.”
Alarmed by the scene, Soyinka said he called National Security Adviser Mallam Nuhu Ribadu to confirm whether the deployment was official and justified.
“I was so astonished that I started looking for the national security adviser. I said, ‘Track him down for me.’ They eventually reached him in Paris, with the President in a meeting. I told him I had just seen something I could not believe, and I described the scene,” he said.
