by Thinus Ferreira
In a shocking announcement, Nigeria's corrupt National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) on Monday announced that it is levelling fines against some of Nigeria's TV channels - including Arise TV, Channels Television and AIT - over their #EndSARS protest news coverage which the country's beleaguered president Muhammadu Buhari doesn't like, and threatened that they may be shut down.
Nigeria's NBC said that it will shut TV channels down if they continue to broadcast news coverage that the NBC and Nigerian government sees as instigating a breakdown of law and order in the West African country, or if they broadcast anything that "threaten the security of the country".
Armstrong Idachaba, NBC acting director-general, on Monday suddenly announced at a press conference in Abuja that Arise TV, Channels Television and AIT are each being fined N3 million (R127 862) for what the NBC unilaterally decided is "unprofessional coverage".
The NBC last week ordered Nigeria's TV channels and radio not to "embarrass" Nigeria as a country with their coverage of the "#EndSars" protests sweeping the struggling country.
Armstrong Idachaba claimed that Arise TV, Channels TV and AIT were guilty of "gross violation of the broadcast code, top of which is the use of unverified online video footage from social media".
As public protests and civil unrest exploded and spread in Nigeria last week following the indiscriminate killing of protesters by Nigerian special forces, multiple TV news channels in Nigeria had their news crews attacked, their buildings and studios invaded, burnt and destroyed.
Angry and fearful Nigerians have been demonstrating for the past 2 weeks against the notorious Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) police unit that Nigerians accuse of gross extortion, harassment, torture, police brutality and murder.
The Channels TV channel meanwhile abruptly stopped broadcasting on Wednesday afternoon soon after TVC News started to burn.
Channels, carried on MultiChoice's DStv and GOtv in Nigeria, simply showed the channel logo and ran an on-air scroll simply saying "Channels Television is temporarily shutting down due to imminent attack on our staff and operations".
Channels later switched to recorded rebroadcasts.
Reporters of African Independent Television (AIT) and Silverbird Television were reportedly harassed while trying to cover the unfolding protests in Nigeria, while Toyin Yusuf, a journalist with Osun State Broadcasting Corporation was attacked.
Meanwhile Nigerian soldiers prevented a TV news crew from Arise TV from covering the news at the Lekki Tollgate.
