Nigeria's corrupt National Broadcasting Commission fines TV channels over protest news coverage, threatens to shut them down.

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.

ALSO READ: TVC News headquarters and news vans in Lagos burn as channel is forced off air, Channels TV shuttered, LTV attacked; news crews and reporters from AIT, Silverbird, Arise TV and OSBC harassed by soldiers and protesters as Nigeria's protests spread after government curfew and killings by security forces.

TVC News headquarters and news vans in Lagos burn as channel is forced off air, Channels TV shuttered, LTV attacked; news crews and reporters from AIT, Silverbird, Arise TV and OSBC harassed by soldiers and protesters as Nigeria's protests spread after government curfew and killings by security forces.

by Thinus Ferreira

As public protests spread in Nigeria, protesters have set fire to the building of the TVC News channel in Lagos, Nigeria that was forced off air, while the Channels TV channel soon afterwards also shut down due to what it called credible threats of an "imminent attack on our staff and operations".

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. 

On social media Nigeria's protests have been trending under the hashtag of #EndSARS.

According to Amnesty International security forces in Nigeria have killed at least 38 people at the Lekki Tollgate after indiscriminately firing on thousands of protesters in Lagos on Tuesday.

Violent protesters, as well as Nigerian soldiers, have harassed and attacked TV news crews from multiple TV channels in Nigeria. 

Public protest action in Nigeria dramatically escalated after Nigerian security forces shot and killed dozens of protesters in the Lekki suburb on Tuesday evening.

Nigerians have been demonstrating nationwide every day for nearly two weeks against the police unit that rights groups had for years accused of extortion, harassment, torture, and murders. 

The TVC News building in Ikosi-Ketu in Lagos was attacked on Wednesday and set alight. Besides the building, several cars, equipment as well as several outside broadcast (OB) news vehicles were set alight and burnt out as well. Several vehicles not burnt were destroyed.

What’s left after thugs attacked TVC news pic.twitter.com/A6O3ykNW6l

— Naija wants to #EndSARS (@Naija_PR) October 22, 2020

TVC stopped posting news on Twitter and its YouTube live stream broadcast abruptly ceased following the fire.

TVC News is owned by Continental Broadcasting Service Nigeria Ltd. and the channel is carried by pay-TV services in NIgeria like MultiChoice's DStv, as well as China's StarTimes.

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.

Lagos Television (LTV) was apparently also attacked, while the offices of The Nation newspaper was set alight as well.

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.