The National Broadcasting Commission has slammed Trust TV with a fine of N5 million for broadcasting a documentary said to be allegedly glorifying terrorism and terrorists.
The documentary titled “Nigeria’s Banditry: The Inside Story”, was aired by the station on the 5th of March, 2022.
The Trust TV management confirmed on Wednesday through a statement that NBC made the fine known to it via a letter signed by its Director General, Balarabe Shehu Illela.
“While we are currently studying the Commission’s action and weighing our options, we wish to state unequivocally that as a television station, we believe we were acting in the public interest by shedding light on the thorny issue of banditry and how it is affecting millions of citizens of our country.
“The documentary traces the root of the communal tensions and systemic inadequacies which led to the armed conflict that is setting the stage for another grand humanitarian crisis in Nigeria. It presents insights into the intersection of injustice, ethnicity and bad governance as drivers of the conflict. It also aggregates the voices of experts and key actors towards finding solutions, including those of the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, and Senator Saidu Mohammed Dansadau, who hails from one the worst-hit communities in Zamfara State.
“Other experts featured in the documentary include scholars like Professor Abubakar Saddique of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and Dr. Murtala Ahmed Rufai of the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, who have both studied the subject of banditry for a long period.
“The documentary also brought to the fore the horrifying stories of victims of banditry.” Trust TV stated.
Last week, Information and Culture Minister, Lai Mohammed, descended heavily on BBC, Africa Eye, for also showing a similar documentary titled ‘Bandits Warlords of Zamfara’
The minister argued that by their actions, both the BBC and Trust TV have become accomplices to terrorists and bandits in the name of reporting.
The BBC documentary traces the origin of banditry in Zamfara to communal clashes between the communities of Hausa and Fulani.
Interviews with top leaders of the bandits, including Hassan Tawaye (Hassan the Rebel) and Ado Aliero, who is the notorious terrorist kingpin recently turbaned as a traditional ruler in Zamfara State but the decision rescinded after an outcry by Nigerians, were featured.
Aliero was asked how many people he has killed, he said too many to remember.
For the Federal Government, the documentaries by the BBC and Trust TV represent the obscene glorification and fueling of terrorism and banditry in Nigeria.
Mohammed’s anger was equally shared by renowned journalist, Kadaria Ahmed, who argued that the BBC would never try such a thing in the UK.
The one hour documentary also featured an interview with the mastermind of the Jangebe school kidnapping. The bandit kingpin who led the attack claimed the state government paid N60 million in exchange for the release of the over 300 girls.
Mohammed, who described the BBC’s documentary as ‘unprofessional’ asserted that interviewing terror gangs and bandits leaders was a way of promoting terror in the country, wondering if the BBC, Africa Eye, would dare do the same in the UK.
The minister said the appropriate regulatory body was already looking at the infractions and appropriate sanctions would be meted to both platforms.
“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 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,’’ he had said.
