A reporter with PUNCH Newspaper has been allegedly locked up for sneaking around the Bayelsa home of President Goodluck Jonathan.
Reliable reports confirm that Soldiers watching Goodluck Jonathan’s house in Otueke in Bayelsa, on Thursday arrested a PUNCH journalist, Simon Utebor, for taking pictures of the sprawling edifice.
Utebor, who is the Punch correspondent in Bayelsa arrived in the community in the early hours of Thursday to investigate the level of preparedness ahead of Jonathan’s homecoming on Friday after six years at Aso Rock as President of the country.
While on the mission, the journalist was arrested by men of the Joint Task Force operating in the area, who handed him over to the Bayelsa police.
Work was still ongoing on the building when Utebor visited and there was heavy security presence in the area ahead of Jonathan’s arrival later on Friday after he would have handed over power to Muhammadu Buhari, the country’s new president.
The spokesperson for the Joint Task Force, Isa Ado, a lieutenant colonel, while confirming the incident, initially said an order for the release of the journalist had been issued.