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EKO HOT BLOG reports that the federal government says it will penalise the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), and Trust TV over their documentaries on terrorism and banditry in Nigeria.
Lai Mohammad, Minister of Information and culture, said this in Abuja on Thursday.
Mohammed said the Federal Government is aware of the unprofessional documentary by the BBC, Africa Eye, where interviews were granted to bandit warlords and terror gangs, thereby promoting terror in the country.
He condemned the BBC for not upholding the same standards and tenets as they would have done in the UK.
The minister also condemned Trust TV, owned by Media Trust Ltd. for using its platform to grant interviews to a bandit kingpin, Shehu Rekeb, thereby promoting the activities of terrorists.
According to him, both platforms by their actions have become accomplices to terrorists and bandits in the name of reporting.
The minister said the appropriate regulatory body was already looking at the infractions and appropriate sanctions would be meted out 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.
“Let me assure you, they will not get away with this naked glorification of terrorism and banditry in Nigeria,” Mohammad said.
“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.
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The minister said that the fact that the BBC is a foreign medium and not under NBC regulations, notwithstanding, sanctions will be meted out to the medium.
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