NBC Fines Trust TV N5m Over Documentary On Banditry

The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has imposed a fine of N5 million on Trust Television Network (Trust TV) over the broadcast of a documentary titled, “Nigeria’s Banditry: The Inside Story”, which was aired by the station on March 5, 2022.

The NBC, in a letter to the media organisation dated August 3, 2022, signed by its director-general, Balarabe Shehu Illela, said the fine was imposed on Trust TV because its broadcast of the said documentary contravened sections of the National Broadcasting Code.

Recasll that last week Thursday, the minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, noted that the Federal Government would sanction Trust TV and BBC for “terrorism glorification” in their documentaries.

Mohammed said the federal government was 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.

Trust TV, however, said while it was studying the Commission’s action and weighing its options, the television station said it believed it was 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 statement reads in part: “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 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.”

Trust TV owners said other experts who featured in the documentary included scholars like Professor Abubakar Saddique of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and Dr. Murtala Ahmed Rufai of the Usmanu Danfodio 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,” the media organisation added.