Concerned Nigerians, a human rights and pro-democracy group, has written to the Director-General of the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission, NBC over the illegal and unconstitutional sanctions of Arise TV, AIT and Channels TV for covering the End SARS protests.
The acting Director-General of the NBC, Prof. Armstrong Idachaba, had announced at a press conference in Abuja that the agency had fined Arise Television, Africa Independent Television and Channels Television, for what he referred to as unprofessional coverage of the End SARS protests.
The agency had at the peak of the End SARS agitation warned all television and radio stations against reporting the protests in a manner that could embarrass the government or private individuals or cause disaffection, incite to panic or rift in the society.
However, the group in a letter to the acting NBC DG signed by its convener, Deji Adeyanju said, the action of Idachaba to impose fines on the media platforms was Draconian, unwarranted and anti-democratic.
“Your Draconian warning to these media platforms and subsequent sanctions for carrying out their constitutionally guaranteed freedom to avail citizens real facts about the human rights violations by the security agents and insight into the trend of social development in the country is anti-democratic and must stop” the group said in the letter.
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The group stated that if the sanction on the media platforms is not reversed, they will be left with no option than to write to the US government, UK government and the European Union to place visa ban on the DG and his immediate family for suppressing press freedom in Nigeria.
