The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has imposed a N5 million sanction, each, on Multichoice Nigeria Ltd, owners of DSTV, TelCom Satellite Ltd, (TSTV), and Startimes Ltd for the broadcast of the documentary by the BBC Africa Eye titled, “bandits Warlords of Zamfara” while the Trust-TV Network Ltd, was also fined N5 million for its documentary titled: “Nigeria’s Banditary- The inside story.”
The Director-General of the commission, Malam Balarabe Ilelah, in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja, said that the documentary glorified the activities of bandits and undermines National Security in the country and also contravened the provisions of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code, Sixth edition.
”While appreciating the need of educating, informing, and enlightening the public on issues bordering on developments and happenings within and outside the country, the commission wishes to seize this opportunity to advise broadcasters to be circumspect and deliberate in the choice and carriage of contents deleterious to Nigeria’s National security.
The D-G said that broadcaster should not transmit a programme that incites or likely to incite to violence among the populace, causing mass panic, political and social upheaval, security breach and general social disorder.
He explained that the imposed penalties on affected broadcast media platforms and station was to be remitted not later than Aug. 30, 2022.
He warned that failure to comply with that would lead to the imposition of a higher sanction as provided in the Nigerian Broadcasting Code.
The NBC boss, therefore, enjoined broadcasters to be instruments of national unity as “every broadcast station or platform is responsible for the content it transmits or transmitted on its platform” and also advise them to desist from falling into antics of using their platforms to promote and glamorize subversive elements and their activities.
