Drama at Lagos House: Sanwo-Olu’s CSO harasses, abuses journalists

There was high drama at the Lagos House, Ikeja, on Saturday when Kunle Fagbemi, Chief Security Officer (CSO) to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, launched a verbal assault on journalists covering an official empowerment programme for 1,000 women.

The empowerment event, organised by the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals in partnership with the Renewed Hope Initiative of First Lady Oluremi Tinubu, was thrown into disarray after Fagbemi descended on members of the governor’s press crew.

Eyewitnesses said the senior police officer halted the press bus and, in full glare of officials and guests, unleashed a torrent of insults on journalists, branding them “disruptive” and “unprofessional.”

Shocked passers-by looked on as Fagbemi barked orders and hurled abusive words without provocation.

Reporters recounted how attempts to calm the CSO were met with more hostility, with Fagbemi insisting that the press had “crossed their boundaries” within the Lagos House premises.

Though the confrontation did not turn physical, journalists described the experience as humiliating and disturbing, warning that such intimidation represents a growing danger to press freedom in government circles.

The incident sparked outrage among media practitioners, who are now demanding that Governor Sanwo-Olu call his security aide to order and take firm disciplinary action to prevent a repeat.

“This was unprovoked harassment,” one journalist said. “We were simply doing our jobs, yet we were treated like intruders.”