The Nigerian government has said that the British Broadcasting Corporation and a Nigerian Television station known as Trust TV owned by Media Trust Limited are most likely to face the sanctions over their respective contents on banditry and terrorism.
In an interview with Voice of Nigeria (VON) in Abuja on Thursday, the country’s Information and Culture Minister, Alhaji Lai Mohammed said the broadcast regulator in Nigeria, the National Broadcasting Commission is looking at the related breach by the BBC documentary and the Trust T.V interview.
“When otherwise reputable platforms like BBC give their platform to terrorists, showing their faces as if they’re Nollywood stars…I want to assure them that they won’t get away with it, the appropriate sanctions will be meted”- Alh. Lai Mohammed
— Fed Min of Info & Cu (@FMICNigeria) July 28, 2022
“There is a regulatory body on broadcasting which is the NBC and they are also aware of these two incidents. They are looking at which parts of the Broadcasting Code have been violated by the BBC and Trust TV.
“I can assure you that they will not get away with this. For those which may think that BBC is a foreign broadcasting station not licensed by the NBC. Let me assure you that they will not get away with the naked glorification of terrorism and banditry in Nigeria.
“If they are not registered in Nigeria and they are only sending their signals to Nigeria, we will ask them t stop sending the signal. I know that during the IRA days the BBC will not dare do what they are doing now in Nigeria.”
“Media is the oxygen that terrorists and bandit can use to breath, and as such platforms should not be given to them, he said.
“When otherwise reputable platforms like BBC can give their platform to terrorist showing their faces as if they are movie stars what does that mean.
“I want to assure them that they will not get away with it. Appropriate sanctions will be meted to both the BBC and the Trust Tv. It is because there is a country called Nigeria that they are operating here. So If their intention is to set Nigeria on fire, then we won’t fold our arms and watch that.”
It would be recalled that the BBC ran a documentary about the banditry in North West Nigeria while in a related development Trust TV ran an exclusive interview with bandit warlord popularly known as Turji Bello.
