Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago of Niger State has ordered the immediate shutdown of Badeggi FM Radio in Minna, the state capital.
News360 Info reports that this was communicated in statement by the Governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Bologi Ibrahim, who disclosed that Bago gave the directive during the expanded Niger State All Progressives Congress (APC) Caucus meeting held at the Government House.
He stated that the Governor directed the State Commissioner of Police and Commissioner for Homeland Security, Brigadier General Bello Abdullahi Mohammed (RTD) to shut down the media outfit.
According to the statement, Bago directed that the licence of the station be confiscated and the owner be profiled.
Ibrahim said: “Governor Bago also accused the owner of the Station for incitement of the people against government and directed that the license of the Radio station be revoked.
“The governor directed the Commissioner for Homeland Security and the Commissioner of Police to seal the radio station, and emphasised the need for the security operatives to profile the owner of the radio station as his station promotes violence.”
Reacting to Governor’s Order, the Director of Operations of Badeggi FM, Abubakar Shuaib, urged the governor to channel his complaints through proper channels rather than directing security Operatives to harass the owner and staff of the radio station.
“The right thing to do is to write to the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) for investigation. NBC has schedule of our programmes and we are being monitored everyday. So, the governor should write to NBC and let the regulatory agency verify our contents and programme to establish if they contravened any of the NBC codes or ethical provisions. We cannot do anything to undermine the public peace and security of the state. Our duty is to hold leaders accountable and that is what we are doing. We don’t have anything against any individual or state government,” he said.
