Radio Nigeria Harmony 103.5 FM in Idofian, the Ifelodun Local Government of Kwara state, North Central Nigeria has come under attack by a four-gang vandals, who destroyed the station’s armored cables and carted away some valuable items.
The vandals, who reportedly rode on two motorbikes, launched the attack in the wee hours of Tuesday (4am), after successfully tying the night guard up with merciless beating.
They also went away with the phones of the officers on duty.
The FM frequency, which is owned by the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) has shut operation, following the damaged cables.
Assistant Director for the Programme, who represented the General Manager of the station, Hajia Binta Abubakar Mora, expressed displeasure over the attack that she said constituted a great threat to the broadcast industry in Nigeria.
“This is a great threat to the broadcasting industry in Nigeria. This has earlier happened to our sister stations in Lokoja (Kogi State) and even in Lafia (Nassarawa State). As it is now, we are off-air. The damage has been done. The affected armored cables are very expensive. What it will take to fix this is something that has become a burden on the management,” she told reporters after conducting them around their premises.
She said; “However, the lives of our staff who were on duty when the incident happened are worth more than whatever they have damaged. Because if anything otherwise had happened it would have been a very sad story. We thank the Almighty God that it didn’t go beyond this.”
Mora, who expressed concerns about the location of the station, called on the Nigerian government to come to their aid to enable them to resume operation.
She also called on the government to assist in making their working environment more safe and conducive to work in, stressing that the location is not friendly enough.
Mora said; “For us here in Harmony FM, our location is not friendly. You can see that we are isolated. From here we cannot even see the orphanage home building that is next to us. This place is in total darkness. If you come here after 6 pm you will worry for those who work here. So, it is something the Nigerian government needs to assist us with and to fortify our security architecture.
“I think this is an opportunity to call on the government to help fortify the security architecture in all its media organizations including ours. Because the majority of FRCN stations are located outside state capitals. We need a lot of security here and stable electricity to check crime tendencies.”
Wasiu Zubair the night guard who was on duty, said “the vandals met him on arrival around 2:30 a.m…, and asked him in Hausa language how many of them were around, before collecting his phone, tying him, and beating him up.”
Mercy Chukwudiebere
