Breaking: NBC Fines Trust TV 5 Million Over Banditry Documentary

The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) on Wednesday imposed a fine of N5 million on Trust Television Network (Trust TV) over the broadcast of the documentary covering banditry in Nigeria.

Recall that the Presidency had reacted towards the documentary, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed in a statement disclosed that the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and Daily Trust will certainly face the consequences glorifying terrorism through their documentaries.

Trust TV released a documentary titled “Nigeria’s Banditry: The Inside Story”, which on the 5th of March, 2022. While, BBC Africa Eye released a documentary titled ‘The Bandit warlords of Zamfara’  which is an interview with Abu Sanni, a self-confessed bandit kingpin.

According to a statement released by Trust TV management, in a statement to The PUNCH on Wednesday, the fine was communicated to the media house in a letter signed by the NBC Director General, Balarabe Shehu Illela.

Illela had said the fine was imposed on Trust TV because its broadcast of the said documentary contravened sections of the National Broadcasting Code.

The statement reads, “While we are currently studying the Commission’s action and weighing our options, we wish to state unequivocally that as a television station, we believe we were 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 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.

“Other experts featured in the documentary include 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.”