BREAKING: First News Editor Olatunji resigns after two-week torture in military dungeon
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
First News Editor Segun Olatunji has resigned, 24 hours after the management of the online newspaper issued an apology to Bola Tinubu’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, over the publication of a story linking him to alleged $60 billion heist.
The report titled, “How Gbajabiamila attempted to corner $30bn, 66 houses traced to Sabiu,” was written by Olatunji, after which the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) abducted him from his house in Lagos on March 15.
He was released on March 28 after he was tortured in a underground cell in Abuja for two weeks, during which he said his abductors also threatened to find and kill him later if he does not back off from poking his nose into corruption and stealing in government.
Gbajabiamila hired a lawyer through whom, earlier this week he threatened to sue Olatunji to court unless he reacted the story and issued a public apology for publishing it.
First News management issued a statement on Wednesday saying it discovered the story contained “falsehoods and fabricated stories handed out to us as facts by a misleading source which was highly negligent on our part and for which we deeply tender an unreserved apology to the Chief of Staff to the President.”
Olatunji expressed displeasure with the apology in his resignation letter, insisting the truth about the report will eventually come out.
“In view of the latest development regarding the Gbajabiamila story and the stance of the company’s Management, I hereby tender my resignation as the General Editor of First News,” he said in his resignation letter.
”It has become imperative for me to resign my appointment for the safety of my person and my family.
”However, I want to state that in no distant time, the truth will come out and then it’ll be my word against theirs.
“I hope the Management of First Media Network Limited, publishers of First News newspaper, will be magnanimous enough to fully settle the one year outstanding salaries I am being owed, in no time.
“I thank the company’s management for giving me the opportunity to contribute my quota to its operations in the past four years.”
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