The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed has revealed that the Federal Government will punish the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and Daily Trust for glorifying terrorism and banditry in Nigeria.
The minister. who spoke during an interview with journalists in Abuja on Thursday, was reacting to separate documentaries on Trust TV and BBC’s “Africa Eye” which exposed the activities of the bandits and terrorists in northern Nigeria.
Mohammed said that ‘’the unprofessional documentaries”, where interviews were granted to bandit warlords and terror gangs, thereby promoting terror in the country.
He condemned the BBC for allegedly not upholding the same standards and tenets as it would have done in the United Kingdom (UK).
According to him, the appropriate regulatory body was already looking at the infractions and appropriate sanctions would be meted out to both platforms which had become accomplices to terrorists and bandits in the name of reporting.
“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,’’ he said.
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.
He said, “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.
The minister reiterated that the government would not tolerate any attempt by any media organization to use its platform to set the country on fire.
