ATTACK ON JOURNALIST: I regret my action —Fani-Kayode

A former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode said he had regretted his attack on a journalist during a recent press conference in Cross River State.

The former minister was seen in a video of the conference that took place on August 20 in Calabar, insulting Eyo Charles, a reporter with DailyTrust newspaper for demanding to know who was funding the former minister’s ongoing tour of the South.

Both the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Daily Trust and Amnesty International, among others had condemned the action of the former minister.

In an earlier post, Fani-Kayode had justified his attack on the journalist, claiming, that the reporter insulted him and that he owed apology to nobody for his attack in response.

However, in a series of tweets on Wednesday (today) morning on his Twitter account, @realFFK, Fani-Kayode wrote:

READ ALSO: Fani-Kayode’s ‘assault’ on our reporter ‘reprehensible’ —Daily Trust

“I met with my advisors & I wish to say the following. I hereby withdraw the word ‘stupid’ which I used in my encounter with a journalist in Calabar. I have many friends in the media who I offended by losing my cool & using such words. I hereby express my regrets for doing so

“I do however wish to state categorically that no threat of physical harm was ever made to the journalist in question and neither did I send anyone to threaten him. Anyone that says otherwise is lying and I challenge them to bring the proof.

“I would never seek to physically harm a journalist. For the last 30 years I have defended & worked with journalists & fought for the right of freedom of expression. I am also very close to many in that profession. I would be the last to seek to disparage those that are honorable and noble within its ranks.

“I hope that this will assuage the pain and anger of anyone that was hurt or offended by this ugly episode. I have now put this matter behind me and moved on. Now my tour of the South continues. Moving to another state today!”

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