FG To Sanction Trust TV, BBC Over Documentaries On Bandits
Following recent documentaries on banditry in northern Nigeria, the Federal Government has announced plans to sanction Trust TV, a television owned by Media Trust Group, as well as the British Broadcasting Company BBC.
Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed while speaking to reporters on Thursday said the documentaries fostered terrorism in Nigeria.
According to the Minister, relevant regulatory body was already looking at the violations and appropriate sanctions would be administered on both outlets.
In his words: “There is a regulatory body regulating broadcasting which is the Nigeria Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and they are also aware of these two incidents.
“They are looking at which part of the Broadcasting Code that has been violated by the BBC and Trust TV. Media is the oxygen that terrorists and bandits use to breathe.
“When otherwise reputable platforms like BBC can give their platform to terrorists showing their faces as if they are Nollywood stars, it is unfortunate.
“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,” Mohammed said.
Furthermore, the minister remarked that the notwithstanding that BBC is a foreign medium and not under NBC regulations, sanctions will still be imposed.
“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 to stop sending the signals.
“I know that during the IRA days, the BBC will not dare do what they are doing now in Nigeria. It is because there is a country called Nigeria that they are operating here,” he said.
Daily Trust reports that the management of Media Trust Group is yet to receive any official communication from the NBC or the Ministry of Information.
Trust TV and BBC Africa Eye in different documentaries revealed the activities of the gangs and how they complicated the lives of Nigerians living in the affected region.
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