Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, has debunked an online report that he prevailed on President Muhammadu Buhari not to scrap the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS) on Friday.
He described the report as fake news, stressing that while the FSARS saga lasted, he did not comment whether publicly or privately, because it was not within his brief.
The statement read: “An online newspaper published by a so-called journalist notorious for fake stories has published that President Muhammadu Buhari was to have scrapped the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS) on Friday, but was prevailed upon by presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, not to do so.
“The tendentious publication claimed Adesina hinged his argument on the fact that “the administration should not surrender to Twitter warriors.”
“While the FSARS saga lasted, I did not say a word on it, whether publicly or privately. Why? It was not within my brief. It rested squarely with the Nigeria Police Force, which has its own spokesman.
“For the online publication to have cooked outright falsehood against me shows the riot that is going on in that space, in the name of journalism.
“The brain behind the blog had always twisted stories against me and his former employers would testify that I had officially reported him about twice, till I then declined to grant him interviews again.
“The publication should please be treated as what it is: lie from the pit of hell. A concoction, falsehood from a diseased mind, bent on causing disaffection against other people.”