Fines not answer to end insecurity in Nigeria, North media owners tell FG
The Northern Broadcast Media Owners Association (NBMOA) has advised the Federal Government to extend a hand of friendship to the media.
The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) fined Trust TV N5million for its documentary, “Nigeria’s Banditry: The Inside Story”.
Multichoice Nigeria Limited (DStv owners), NTA-Startimes Limited, and Telcom Satellite Limited (TSTV) were also fined N5million each for airing BBC’s “The Bandit Warlords of Zamfara”.
In a statement on Saturday, NBMOA Acting Chairman Abdullahi Yelwa stressed that fines would not end the insecurity in Nigeria.
The association urged the NBC to rescind the decision and build synergy between the media and government.
Yelwa said the Trust TV documentary was judged to be balanced, fair, and ethical, “even though the NBC deemed it to have glorified banditry and breached national security”.
He noted that an objective review of the film would reveal “the depth, ingenuity, patriotism and professionalism of its producers”.
“Security challenges currently confronting the nation require a new strategy. This, we believe, was what the producers of the programme attempted to do.”
The statement added that the “positive takeaways, if property harnessed by all concerned, would go a long way in aiding our understanding of the ecosystem of banditry in Nigeria”.