The federal government says it will penalise the British
Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and Daily Trust over their documentaries on
terrorism and banditry in Nigeria.
Lai Mohammad, minister of information and culture, said this
in Abuja on Thursday.
“Let me assure you, they will not get away with this naked
glorification of terrorism and banditry in Nigeria,” Mohammad said.
“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.”
In a 50-minute documentary titled ‘The Bandit Warlords of
Zamfara’, published on Monday, the BBC Africa Eye provided insight into the
mindset of bandit kingpins, the booming kidnap-for-ransom industry, and how Zamfara’s
insecurity may have been brought on by the ethnic conflict between Hausa and
Fulani groups.
In March, Daily Trust TV, an arm of Daily Trust Newspaper,
published a special report and documentary which exposed major issues around
banditry in Nigeria. Non-state actors like Bello Turji was interviewed in the
documentary.
Bello Kachalla, better known as Turji, is a notorious bandit
leader who operates in northern Nigeria, particularly Zamfara, Sokoto and Niger
state.
“All I can say is that there is a regulatory body, the
Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and they are also aware of these
incidents and are looking at which part of the broadcasting codes have been
violated by both the BBC and the Daily Trust,” the minister said.
“But I can assure you that there will be consequences. For
those who will argue that BBC is a foreign broadcaster and as such, it is not
licensed by NBC, let me assure you, they will not get away with this naked
glorification of terrorism and banditry in Nigeria.
“I have said it many times here that the media is the oxygen
that the terrorists and bandits need to breathe. When other reputable platforms
like BBC now give their platform to terrorists, showing their faces as if they
are Nollywood stars, what does that means? I want to assure them they won’t get
away with it. There are sanctions to be meted on both the BBC and the Daily
Trust.”
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