Ace photographer, Sunmi Smart
Cole, on Thursday narrated how he was rough handled by President Muhammadu
Buhari’s security detail during the colloquium to mark Senator Bola Tinubu’s
birthday in Lagos.
Smart-Cole, 76, who is currently
recovering from the injuries sustained during the beating in a hospital in
Ikoyi, threatened to sue the Department of State Service (DSS).
The former head of photography in
the presidency said he was revived by the former Governor, of Ogun State, Chief
Segun Osoba, the Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal, and the Governor of
Imo State, Rochas Okorocha.
He said he was invited to the
colloquium to take photographs, and that things were going on well until the
president arrived and the place became rowdy.
“I was invited by the
vice-president’s office. The vice-president told one of his assistants, Mrs.
Uwais, the wife of a former Chief Justice of Nigeria, to invite me to cover the
event”, he told Thisday.
“When Buhari entered with about
50 security personnel, things changed. If you stood near them, they would give
you elbow. At a time, I just told one of them, ‘I am an old man; I am actually
76 years old’.
“He said he didn’t care and directed
another security official to make sure ‘this old man does not come near the
president’. I had to take photographs from a distance.
“The security operatives around
the president continued to push me until I became exhausted and I slumped
because my legs became weak.
“I slumped right in front of
Segun Osoba, Niyi Adebayo, the former Governor of Ekiti State; Governor
Tambuwal, and Governor Okorocha, who sat together, including the Governor of
Edo State, Godwin Obaseki. They all saw me. I am the oldest working journalist
in Nigeria.
“I slumped but I did not pass
out. Prof. Pat Utomi and the Publisher of Ovation Magazine were detailed by
Osoba to keep me seated, saying I get too excited when I carry camera. He
seized my camera.”
Smart-Cole, however, disclosed
that the doctors were not yet satisfied with his recovery and would spend more
days there.
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