Embattled DG of art and culture cries out after court sentenced him to prison
Fri Jan 10, 2020 03:19:pm National
1.8K By Afam Jude Offor
The embattled director general of National Council for Art and Culture ( NCAC), Olusegun Runsewe has cried out barely twenty-four hours after he was sent to prison, that some powerful Nigerians were behind his ordeal.
According to reports, An Abuja high court had on Thursday, January 9, ordered that he should be remanded for alleged contempt. It was gathered that while speaking with journalists in Abuja on Friday, January 10, Runsewe attributed his travail to his patriotic desire to protect and defend government property owned by NCAC. He disclosed that his refusal to dance to the tune of powerful forces over the property, the Art and Craft village that is located opposite Abuja Sheraton, valued at 9.8billion, was why he was being persecuted. Runsewe further stressed that government property was turned into a drug den, a hold-bay and rented house for hooligans and criminals, a depot for illegal arms and sundry criminal activities, which turned the place to security threat not only to Abuja residents but to foreigners who engage in early hours exercises. He alleged that many of such foreigners were being molested by criminals from the location. “So I wonder why some people are bent on converting government property to a haven of inappropriate engagement; hence, the police have to close down the place. ”The art and craft village belongs to the federal republic of Nigeria. It does not belong to me but to the Nigerian people, so I would be failing in my duties as a public officer and appointee of government if I cannot protect government property to which I was mandated to oversee,” he said. He vowed to do his best within the ambit of law to secure and protect Nigerian cultural assets including those outside the shores of Nigeria.
According to reports, An Abuja high court had on Thursday, January 9, ordered that he should be remanded for alleged contempt. It was gathered that while speaking with journalists in Abuja on Friday, January 10, Runsewe attributed his travail to his patriotic desire to protect and defend government property owned by NCAC. He disclosed that his refusal to dance to the tune of powerful forces over the property, the Art and Craft village that is located opposite Abuja Sheraton, valued at 9.8billion, was why he was being persecuted. Runsewe further stressed that government property was turned into a drug den, a hold-bay and rented house for hooligans and criminals, a depot for illegal arms and sundry criminal activities, which turned the place to security threat not only to Abuja residents but to foreigners who engage in early hours exercises. He alleged that many of such foreigners were being molested by criminals from the location. “So I wonder why some people are bent on converting government property to a haven of inappropriate engagement; hence, the police have to close down the place. ”The art and craft village belongs to the federal republic of Nigeria. It does not belong to me but to the Nigerian people, so I would be failing in my duties as a public officer and appointee of government if I cannot protect government property to which I was mandated to oversee,” he said. He vowed to do his best within the ambit of law to secure and protect Nigerian cultural assets including those outside the shores of Nigeria.
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