SaharaReporters has obtained handwritten documents revealing the arrest and detention of Benjamin Madu, who admitted to Department of State Services (DSS) agents that he was a member of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB). Mr. Madu was arrested by agents of DSS after a container was discovered in his home that contained a radio transmitter that was transmitting Radio Biafra programming.
According to a document provided to SaharaReporters, several firearms were also discovered in the home of Mr. Madu. Among the weapons were an Emerald Magnum pump-action shotgun, a Delia pump-action shotgun, a packet containing 17 12-calibre cartridges, and another a packet containing 24 12-calibre cartridges.
The list also included a reference to a small satchel “containing substances suspected to be Indian Hemp”.
It will be recalled that the leader of IPOB and the Director of Radio Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, was arrested on October 18, 2015. He remains in custody despite being granted bail.
Earlier this week SaharaReporters exclusively obtained a statement used by DSS as evidence that “Biafran soldiers” were linked to IPOB. In the statement references were made to armed individuals present at IPOB meetings and training exercises. The statement was written by Tochukwu Meribe and described his experiences with IPOB as a member of the organization.
Hundreds of agitators for the creation of Biafra Republic, yesterday, besieged an Abuja Chief Magistrate Court sitting at Wuse Zone 2, demanding the unconditional release of the self-declared leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu.
The placard carrying protesters, who wore T-shirts and caps with inscriptions like “Biafra Now or Never”, “Buhari Release Kanu For Us”, “On Biafra We Stand”, yesterday, sang and danced outside the court premises, while hearing was going on in the criminal case that was entered against Kanu by the federal government.
Meantime, following an order of the court, the Department of State Security, DSS, yesterday, produced the detained Director of Radio Biafra and Television, Kanu.
Chief Magistrate Shauibu Usman had at the last adjourned date, berated the DSS over its failure to produce Kanu in court on two consecutive times the matter came up before the court.
Magistrate Usman said he was disappointed that the security agency refused to produce Kanu despite an express order of the court.
Consequently, he directed that the accused person must be brought before the court yesterday.
Meanwhile, at the resumed hearing on the matter yesterday, Kanu, who the government accused of engaging in criminal conspiracy, managing and belonging to an unlawful society, as well as indulging in criminal intimidation, contrary to section 97 (a)&(b) and section 397 of the Penal Code, begged to be transferred to prison custody.
His lawyer, Mr. Vincent Egechukwu Obeta, insisted that transferring his client to prison would enable him to have easy access to his legal team.
Obeta made the application shortly after the DSS, yesterday, urged the Magistrate Court to hands-off Kanu’s trial.
The DSS, through its lawyer, Mr Moses Idakwo, told the court that it has already secured an order of the Federal High Court in Abuja to further detain Kanu for another 90 days.
It said that the order which was granted by Justice Ademola Adeniyi, was to enable the government to conclude investigation into an allegation that Kanu was involved in terrorism financing.
Consequently, the DSS, yesterday, applied to withdraw the initial First Information Report, FIR, it lodged against Kanu before the Chief Magistrate Court.
The agency maintained that the government would file a fresh charge against Kanu before a higher court, once its ongoing investigation is concluded.
Idakwo therefore asked Magistrate Usman to step down from the trial on the ground that his court lacks the power and jurisdiction to prosecute terrorism charges.
The application was vehemently opposed by Kanu’s lawyer Obeta, who insisted that the bail earlier granted the accused person must firstly be complied with before any application for transfer of the case to a federal high court could be entertained.
After listening to both parties, Magistrate Usman adjourned the case till December 1 for ruling.
Kanu who was brought to court yesterday under heavy security, was on October 17, picked up in Lagos by security operatives, shortly after he arrived Nigeria from his base in the United Kingdom.
Biafran Protest over Kanu
He had On October 19, pleaded not guilty to the FIR that was filed against him by the Nigerian government, and was subsequently granted him bail to the tune of N2million.
The court further directed the defendant to produce a civil servant of Grade Level 16, to stand as his surety.
However, following allegation that the DSS, refused to release the accused person after he had perfected the bail conditions, the Magistrate, in a ruling on October 23, ordered that he should be brought to court on November 18, an order that was not complied with.
Magistrate Usman insisted that no trial could continue in a criminal case in the absence of the accused, saying the only condition that could make a court to excuse the absence of an accused had not arisen.
He therefore ordered the DSS to ensure the presence of the defendant in court yesterday.
Specifically, Kanu, is standing trial on criminal conspiracy, managing and belonging to an unlawful society and criminal intimidation contrary to Section 97, 97B and 397 of the penal code.
The fact of the case, according to DSS report was that the accused formed an unlawful society with the purpose of bringing into being a Republic of Biafra.
He was alleged to have proclaimed himself as the leader of the Republic of Biafra and established a radio of Biafra.
Kanu was also alleged to have appointed himself Commander of the Loyal Forces of Biafra and was broadcasting to the whole world the dire consequences of the government and people of Nigeria will surfer should they attempt hinder the actualization of the Republic of Biafra.
IPOB members ground vehicular movements
In the South East states, the agitation for the release of the Director of Radio Biafra, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu by the Federal Government continued yesterday as members of Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, numbering over 15,000, dared the military and protested in Onitsha the commercial city of Anambra State, marching in over 18 batches of about two thousand people per batch, and grounding vehicular movements in the ever busy Onitsha Enugu express way for over one and half hours.
Known for their peaceful and non violence agitation, the protesting IPOB members marched from Niger Bridge head entry into Anambra State, where the plaque of former Biafran warlord, late Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu was built, to Naval outpost, Atani Road Ogbaru Local Government Area, and back to Uga Junction, where they again joined the Onitsha, Asaba Enugu Express way, down to Upper Iweka flyover.
At the Upper Iweka flyover bridge, they danced for about 30minutes and grounded vehicular movements before their leaders directed that they should allow the vehicles to move but slowly.
Wielding placards with inscriptions as “Nigeria is a lawless land, and a terrorist state,” “Biafra is a Nation not a society,” “Free innocent man, Nnamdi Kanu or there will be no peace” “Freeinnocent man Nnamdi Kanu, he did not do anything wrong”, “No Biafra no peace”, including others derogatory inscriptions on their placards against the government, the protesting IPOB members marched towards Zik’s roundabout and military cantonment Onitsha.
On their march towards Zik’s roundabout, they stopped in front of the Onitsha military cantonment along the Onitsha Enugu Express way, danced for about 20 minutes, chanting anti Federal and Anambra state government and military songs, demanding for the release of the incarcerated Kanu who they warn that if anything happens to him, they will make Nigeria ungovernable, before they left for Ziks Roundabout.
At Ziks roundabout named after the late Owelle of Onitsha, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, which is incidentally directly opposite the Onosi Onira retreat, home of the late first Nigerian president, they stopped and paid homage to Ziks plaque built at the roundabout, and addressed newsmen.
According to their spokesmen, who gave his name as Emma Powerful and Sunday Igbokaenyi, from Okija, IPOB wondered why Mr. Kanu should still be in detention after the court has granted him bail, they alleged that ban has been place on all the imported goods the Igbo are major importers to humilate them, adding that IPOB is a non violent group and should not be treated like criminals, when Federal Government is petting the Boko Haram members.
While Mr. Powerful said their protest is in continuation of their agitation for the Sovereign State of Biafra and release of Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, and to tell the Federal Government that no amount of threat from the Military will stop them until their objectives are achieved.
Hoist Kanu’s portraits, Biafra emblems in Aba
While the Onitsha protest was still ongoing, over 20,000 members of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, also yesterday embarked on another protest march in Aba, Abia state, where they hoisted Biafra emblems and Nnamdi Kanu’s portraits across billboards and other high-rise structures across the city.
As the protesters grew in number, it was a major difference from past protests as all the markets in the city including the Ariaria International, Cemetery and Ahia Ohuu markets were open for business. Vanguard observed that shop owners along Azikiwe road hurriedly shut their shops to avoid the wrath of the protesters.
Recall that the Police in Aba led by the Area Commander, ACP Peter Wagbara, had last week, went round the city and removed Biafra emblems mounted at strategic points and high rise
Two lawyers, Ezechukwu Obete and Gabriel Ebule, battled each other for the right to represent the Director of Radio Biafra, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, when the Federal Government’s case against him came up before a Magistrate’s Court in Wuse Zone 2, Abuja, on Wednesday.
Nanmdi Kanu, Radio Biafra’s Director
Both lawyers flaunted different letters appointing them to defend the accused person.
Kanu was on October 19, 2015 arraigned on charges of criminal conspiracy, managing and belonging to an unlawful society as well as criminal intimidation, offences said to be contrary to sections 97 and 397 of the Penal Code.
The accused was not present in court on Wednesday but a number of his supporters were seen in the court premises throughout the period the proceedings lasted.
However, the dispute between the two lawyers over his legal representation made the presiding Chief Magistrate, Shuaibu Usman, to order the Department of State Services to produce him on Monday to enable him to identify his desired counsel.
Prosecuting counsel, Mr. Moses Idakwo, said the DSS did not produce the accused in court on Wednesday because the court’s business for the day was for the hearing of an application by the accused challenging the court’s jurisdiction to entertain the charges preferred against him.
But the magistrate reminded the prosecutor that he had on October 23, 2015 ordered that the accused person must always be present in court each time the matter came up regardless of what the proceedings were about.
He said the criminal proceedings could not continue in the absence of the accused person.
Usman, therefore, ordered the prosecutor to unfailingly produce the accused before the court on November 23, 2015.
Ebule, who first announced his appearance for the accused person on Wednesday, had informed the court that he represented the accused person on October 19, 2015 when he was arraigned.
Ebule produced a letter which he said was written by the wife of the accused person appointing him as the defence lawyer.
The prosecutor had also confirmed that the notice of preliminary objection scheduled for hearing on Wednesday was served on him by Ebule.
Obete, on his part, produced two letters one of which he said was written by the Indigenous People of Biafra, and signed by an official of the group, Alphonsus Mefor, appointing him as lawyer.
The second letter produced by Obete which he said appointed him to defend the accused was said to be dated October 16 and written by the father of the accused person, and the traditional ruler of Afara-Ukwu community in Abia State.
Obete, who said he was based in Enugu, noting that Ebule only capitalised on his absence from the previous proceedings.
He said he arrived in Abuja late on the day of the previous proceedings because he got the notice late.
The presiding magistrate recalled that the accused did not have any lawyer to represent him on the day he was arraigned on October 19.
He added that Ebule only volunteered to defend him (Kanu) after he inquired and confirmed that he had no counsel in court.
The magistrate then directed that the accused would be made to identify his desired lawyer on Monday.
The charges against the accused included an allegation that he formed an unlawful society with the purpose of bringing into being a Republic of Biafra.
He was also alleged to have proclaimed himself as the leader of the Republic of Biafra and established the Radio Biafra.
Kanu was also alleged to have appointed himself the Commander of the Loyal Forces of Biafra and was broadcasting to the whole world the dire consequences the government and people of Nigeria would surfer should they attempt to hinder the actualisation of the Republic of Biafra.
residents in Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State have taken to the street to protest the arrest of the controversial Director of Radio Biafra, Nanmdi Kanu.
Kanu was reportedly arrested by the Department of State Services at Golden Tulip Hotel and was granted bail by the Abuja Municipal Council Magistrate court.
According to report, the police have been unable to stop the protest which started at Port Harcourt-Aba road.
The protest has also led to heavy traffic for motorists.
The Department of State Security (DSS) monday released the Director, Radio Biafra and Leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu, who was arrested at the Golden Tulip Essential Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos.
Nanmdi Kanu, Radio Biafra’s Director
Kanu, who was arrested on Friday last week, was said to have been released on bail to his lawyer.
Although the bail fee was reportedly fixed at N2 million, as at press time, Kanu was yet to have met the bail conditions, which included getting a civil servant on grade16 to be his surety.
According to reports, his lawyer, Mr. Egechukwu Obetta, had decried the fact that his client was arrested for airing his opinion on seccession.
Attempts to confirm his release from the DSS spokesperson at the Lagos State Command last night, proved abortive as his two phones were switched off.
However, THISDAY had earlier gathered that Kanu was arrested following an alleged threat-filled interview he granted recently.
A senior DSS official who asked not to be named, said Kanu was arrested based on the violent undertone of an interview he recently granted journalists.
He said: “Prior to his arrest, he was not under our radar. In fact, he did not exist. However, that was to change after our attention was drawn to the interview he granted one medium.
“In that interview, he made so many threats that would jeopardise the sovereignty of Nigeria if he is allowed to actualise them.
“He also threatened to burn down Nigeria if Biafra is not allowed to secede. The violent undertone of his interview gave us cause for concern and so we picked him up.”
THISDAY also gathered that some of the events that led to his eventual arrest were painstaking intelligence gathering and covert surveillance on Kanu.
According to the source, they had mounted surveillance on him and had alerted the necessary persons, thus making it easier for them to arrest him from where he lodged.
He said: “Before we arrested him, we did our homework. So when our intelligence network signalled that he was around, we simply waited and picked him up.”
He also said measures are ongoing to ferret out information about the sponsors of the group, in a bid to round them up.
He said: “After our questioning, we will go after their sponsors because it’s not possible for this young man to be the brain behind this group. When we get the sponsors, we have gotten the group.”
Also, another senior official who craved anonymity said: “The operation was carried out on a need-to-know basis. So not all operatives were in the know because we wanted a tight and smooth execution.
“After he was picked up, his girlfriend came to the command but he was not released to her. We kept him for questioning.
“Investigations are ongoing and we would not want to jeopardise it, but note that if he is innocent, he would be released after our questioning but if not, he would be made to face the law.”
Controversial pirate channel, Radio Biafra, has again resumed transmission, despite the Federal Government’s claim that it had jammed the station’s signals.
Radio Biafra
The Federal Government had on July 14 announced that it jammed the transmission signals of the radio station, which was operating illegally from an unknown location.
Our correspondent observed that the channel had not been transmitting on the FM 104.7 band, on which its signals was received in Enugu, since July.
However, it was observed on Saturday that the station, which was monitored from 8pm to 9pm, had resumed transmission on the same 104.7 FM band, from which it transmitted before it went off air.
Listeners were invited to call in from various parts of the South-East, and from outside the country.
The station was still transmitting as of the time of filing this report.
The broadcast addressed the most current issues in the country, an indication that the channel was still on air.
Five days after the dismantling of the equipment of Radio Biafra and the arrest of the operatives by the combined forces of the National Broadcasting Commission and the Department of State Security, the illegal radio station is still streaming on the Internet.
Radio Biafra
The Director of Public Affairs at the broadcast regulatory agency, Mr. Awwalu Salihu, confirmed this in a telephone interview with our correspondent in Abuja on Tuesday.
Salihu said the agency was unable to dismantle the online broadcasting “because the protocol for doing so is very long.”
He said, “I can confirm to you that they are still broadcasting through the Internet. This is because the protocol for bringing down Internet broadcast is a long one. But the process for bringing it down has started.”
Giving details on the operation of the terrestrial version of the radio station, the NBC spokesman explained that while the station lasted, it covered major cities in the South-East, including Enugu, Owerri, Aba as well as Port Harcourt.
According to him, while the station appropriated a frequency that it was never authorised to use, it also hopped on the frequency of licensed stations when they closed broadcast for the day.
Describing the station as a pirate radio, Salisu added that the broadcast was being treated as a breach of national security. He, however, could not disclose when the operatives of the station arrested by the DSS would be charged to court.
The Director General of NBC, Mr. Emeka Mbah, had on Friday announced the confiscation of the equipment of the illegal radio.
He said the commission had worked with other agencies to remove the transmissions of the illegal station from the satellite, adding that the action had put paid to the divisive and disruptive transmissions.
It is quite surprising how all of a sudden the so-called illegal Radio Biafra reportedly being operated by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, said to be resident in the United Kingdom, is increasingly becoming a source of serious concern to the government of President Muhammadu Buhari, a section of the Nigerian Online Media and some Nigerian elements who are wont to believe that Ndigbo must always dance to their tune or do what suits their thinking and/or act in line with their personal and group expectations – so as to be qualified to be called good citizens of Nigeria or, better still, nationalists. What a beautiful nonsense!
Radio Biafra
Similarly surprising is the rate at which the operator of this now all-important Radio Biafra, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, is being denigrated by the officials of the government of President Muhammadu Buhari and their retinue of parasitic sycophants.
Little wonder that while some of these officials now seem be dissipating a lot of energy, time and resources striving to outdo one another in a bid to jam the signals of Radio Biafra, the security operatives are reportedly busy loafing around all nooks and crannies of the South-East and South-South geo-political zones searching for the sponsors of this pirate station.
Furthermore, it smacks of curiosity that these operatives appear to be carrying out this task with more vigour, strength, uncommon commitment and unprecedented diligence than they seem to have so far deployed in the perennial fight against the Boko Haram terrorists that have been wrecking havoc here and there in the Northern region.
Apparently in an effort to shore up what seemed to remain of its dwindling image – which has been adversely dealt with by the seemingly superior strategies and operations of the Boko Haram sect – and in order to create the impression of possessing the technical knowhow to control the country’s airwaves, the government, through the instrumentality of the National Broadcasting Commission, recently announced its success in jamming the signals of Radio Biafra.
According to Dr. Yemi Folashade Esan, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, “right now the signals from Radio Biafra have been jammed successfully by the NBC”.
As pleasant as this remark sounds, there is no gainsaying that only time and events will give credibility to this claim.
Now let us dwell on the crux of the matter about the things believed to be said or done wrongly by Radio Biafra. First of all, apart from the media reports about the station’s pejorative reference to President Muhammadu Buhari as terrorist-in-Chief and sundry other names, which is roundly deplorable, could it be empirically wrong for rational minds in a sane society to think that the station’s metaphoric use of the word “zoo” or “zoological republic” in describing the degrading and appalling state of human existence in Nigerian today is really misplaced? For sure, this should as a matter of fact be the fundamental question of abiding concern to all of us, even as we continue to take a swipe at the general operations and content of the pirate radio station.
As it were, going by the abysmal, unacceptable and, in fact, clearly uncontrollable spate of killings and wanton destruction of property on daily basis by the Boko Haram beasts (existing in the form of human beings) since the inauguration of President Muhammadu Buhari, could it not be an understatement to submit that the Radio Biafra’s characterization of Nigeria as a ‘zoo’ is a mild word in the depiction of the near animalistic state of living in the North-East geo-political zone? For goodness sake, how else do we aptly describe a situation whereby human beings are daily slaughtered like animals in Nigeria by the Boko Haram sect? Or, how else do we rationalize a state of human existence with a government ostensibly in place whereby no fewer than 625 innocent and hapless Nigerians got butchered in a day in four villages in Borno state as reported by Vanguard Newspaper of July 14, 2015?
Funny enough, not even in the US nowadays would anybody take the lives of ordinary animals in just a day and in such a large number without the government swiftly unveiling its deadliest fangs of law enforcement in retaliation against the culprit. But here we are watching our government setting 182 Boko Haram suspects free on grounds that they had been duly investigated, discharged and acquitted. It is well indeed!
In fact, no matter the things that we do or say against the Radio Biafra and its operator, Nnamdi Kanu, the point is that Nigeria cannot live in self-delusion forever, more so now that the government of the day appears to be pontificating so much about change – though one hopes that this is far from being a lip-service approach aimed at taking Nigerians for a ride.
Undoubtedly, there is need for change in the style of governance in Nigeria. But then, the change the country needs or desires is not such that is currently being tilted in favour of the Hausa-Fulani and a few of their Northern brethren, in collaboration with their fellow ‘Muslim brothers’ in the South-West. Of course this desired change ought not to encapsulate or envisage the emerging notion (as evidenced so far in President Buhari’s appointment) that the people of Northern Nigeria know it more than their southern counterparts and as such have a duty to take over all the strategic security and other positions in the country, to the exclusion of others co-existing with them in this multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious entity called Nigeria.
Meanwhile, if there is one known fact that is increasingly endearing the people of South-East and South-South to the so-called illegal Radio Biafra (to the chagrin and discomfort of Buhari’s government), it is best to be situated in the perceived witch-hunt by the present national leadership. Rightly or wrongly, its first rash decision to transfer a whole lot of high risk Boko Haram detainees/prisoners to an unworthy prison facility at Ekwuluobi in the South-Eastern state of Anambra speaks volumes about the validity of the stereotyped mindset of President Buhari’s government vis-a-vis Ndigbo. And this may help to explicate the rationale behind the fortune being made by Radio Biafra in the area of securing the attention of the public.
Though it has always been easy for those who enjoy the privilege of being in the media or having access to the media to put in the public domain fierce polemics against peoples’ projects that are apparently antithetical to the interest they represent or protect. Yet it must be noted that the role of the media, whether print, electronic or online, on this issue of Radio Biafra should go beyond attacking the station. At the very best, there is need for caution, profound reflection and candid analysis on this issue. Like the British Broadcasting corporation (BBC) Hausa service which champions the cause of the Hausa people all over the world, it may not be out of place to say that the Radio Biafra fundamentally exists to serve and promote the cause and interest of the people of Igbo extraction both at home and in Diaspora.
To this end, it does not seem to make sense that Premium Times, an online media, in its July 10, 2015 Editorial, erroneously tried to equate the activities of Radio Biafra with Radio Television Libre des mille (RTLMC) that allegedly aided the massacre of 500,000 Rwandans during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Truth be told, there is hardly any station which caters and propagates solely the cause of a nation that does not err from time to time in terms of providing controversial content to its listeners. As a matter of fact, we may recall that it was reportedly on the BBC Hausa Service interview segment that our current President, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari, allegedly issued his notorious threat about the possibility of monkey and baboon’s blood oozing out on the streets in the event the 2015 general election failed to meet his personal and group expectations. And here lies one of the challenges associated with the existence of a cause radio station or a global radio station that permanently runs a cause programme for a nationality co-existing with other nationalities within the same geographical entity and under a supreme authority (one government).
What is more, if indeed Radio Biafra is illegal on account of the pronouncement by Dr. Yemi Folashade Esan, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, merely because the station does not have a licence obtained from Nigerian government to be on her airwaves, then it stands to question if the BBC, Voice of America, Radio Deutsche welle and their ilk that freely operate on our airwaves do so because they are issued with Nigerian government’s licences or basically because of their ownership, possession and use of superior technology/technical knowhow.
But be that as it may, it is high time the government left Radio Biafra alone and mind its business of governance, especially as it concerns its efforts in containing the unabated offensive being launched daily by the Boko Haram insurgents. Endlessly chasing shadow in the guise of fighting to jam the signals of Radio Biafra will only continue to attract more attention and listenership for the radio station. This is why it is imperative for President Muhammadu Buhari to start addressing cases of injustice, inequality and inequity (which abound in our polity) against the people of the enclave whose cause and interest the pirate radio station claims to be pursuing. This is one major way of making the vast majority of the people concerned think and act less for and in defence of Radio Biafra.
Onyiorah Paschal Chiduluemije, a Journalist, writes from
ABUJA – National Broadcasting Commission, NBC on Friday said it has “neutralised” illegal broadcasts from Biafra Radio which it said has “shattered” the peace of south east zone of Nigeria with hate and seditious messages.
It added that it had equally arrested its operators and confiscated many of their transmitters in various locations.
According to the Commission, the arrested operators had been taken to Abuja for prosecution.
A release by the Director-General of the Commission, Emeka Mba, stated that it efforts were being made to remove the transmissions of the illegal station from the satellite.
The Commission further decried activities of the “illegal Radio station”, through the transmission of messages, saying that Nigeria cannot afford another blood-letting after the civil war.
It however asked Nigerians to unite against the station.
The statement read thus:
“The national Broadcasting Commission, has effectively neutralised the illegal broadcasts from the seditious pirate radio station that has recently shattered the peace in parts of the south east of Nigeria with unsavoury hate messages.
“Working with security operatives, the Commission has also tracked down, neutralised and confiscated transmitter equipment from several locations in the region. Some suspects involved in the illicit broadcasts have also been arrested and taken to Abuja for questioning and prosecution.
“The commission has also worked with other agencies to remove the transmission of the illegal station from the satellite and this has put paid to the divisive and disruptive transmissions. We are working on the internet transmissions.
“The National Broadcasting Commission wishes to appreciate the concerns expressed by Nigerians over the seditions activities of the illegal “Biafra Radio” transmitting hate message that are unfortunately designed to create disunity among Nigerians and mislead young people in a deliberate act of subversion. Nigerians do not need another round of heartache and bloodshed.
“The Commission reiterates its calls to the public to disregard the hate messages coming from the misguided station, and urges Nigerians to unite in joining hands with the government to build a stronger and more prosperous nation.”
Agents of the federal government on Thursday night arrested suspected masterminds of Radio Biafra, a broadcasting platform calling for the secession of the south-east from Nigeria.
The signals were also reportedly jammed after initial failed attempts, but the station is still broadcasting on the world wide web, making it practically impossible to block its broadcasts.
On Friday, it announced that it had launched another station, promising to launch 50 others. According to checks by TheCable, another radio station called “Biafra 24 Radio” has hit the airwaves pushing the same message of “freedom of Biafraland”.
The radio station said it is running with the motto of “bringing Biafra closer”. Radio Biafra in its Friday morning broadcast promised to launch 50 other radio stations to push for the “freedom of Biafra”.
Both Radio Biafra and Biafra 24 radio were live online as at Friday morning, while residents of Port Harcourt, Rivers state, were said to be having difficulty accessing the station.
Joseph Udofia, one of the residents who spoke to TheCable, said of all the stations broadcasting in Rivers, none is Radio Biafra.
“The 97.6FM was the former frequency (and) they claim to have moved to 102.1FM, but I can authoritatively say that nothing is being broadcast on that frequency now,” he said.
The location and local frequency of Biafra 24 Radio could not be ascertained. Earlier, the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) through the permanent secretary of the ministry of information, Yemi Folasade-Esan, said the commission had jammed signals of the station.
The station came out almost immediately to debunk the claim. Radio Biafra, which refers to Nigeria as a zoo, said the government is being unfair to them, claiming that Buhari promoted “Radio Chanji” when he was seeking power.
“Radio Chanji was floated by Buhari and the APC, unregistered, to oust (President Goodluck) Jonathan. Yet Radio Biafra is registered and they want to stop us. Why do you need the United Kingdom, the United States, Israel to stop Radio Biafra?” the on air personality queried.
He accused the government of trying to sabotage its operations by telling Tune-in Radio, an online platform, to shut down Radio Biafra.
“The government told tune in to shut it down, what they do not understand is that tune in is just one of several listening ports. Tune in after much pressure have now restored Radio Biafra back to their platform,” he said.
President Muhammadu Buhari has called on Nigerians to ignore Radio Biafra, a controversial station known for using its programmes to incite the public.
Refuting the claim that he expressed anti-Igbo sentiments in a recent interview with the BBC Hausa Service, Buhari asked Nigerians not to be deceived by the station’s hate propaganda against him.
“The claim by a pirate radio station that President Muhammadu Buhari expressed anti-Igbo sentiments in a recent interview with the BBC Hausa Service is completely false, malicious and slanderous,” read a statement issued on his behalf by Garba Shehu, his senior special assistant on media and publicity.
“The voice being ascribed to President Buhari in the recording repeatedly played back by the pirate radio station is definitely not the president’s and the claim that the station got the recording from a BBC interview is totally untrue. “No one should be deceived by the pirate radio station’s hate propaganda against the president.
“President Buhari has not had any interview with the BBC’s Hausa Service since his assumption of office as alleged by the agents of disunity behind the pirate radio station’s inflammatory and divisive broadcasts.
“The last interview he had with the BBC Hausa Service, lasting not more than five minutes, was on the day he was declared winner and given his certificate of return as President-elect by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
“Thankfully, the BBC Hausa Service editor, Mr. Mansor Liman has distanced the BBC from the false interview clip being ascribed by the pirate radio station to President Buhari.
“President Buhari is the President of all Nigerians and will continue to treat all citizens on the basis of fairness, equality and equity.
“Nigerians should therefore ignore all propaganda designed to sow seeds of discord among them and promote a separatist agenda against national unity, solidarity and progress.”
On Tuesday, the government claimed to have sent the station off the airwaves but Radio Biafra has continued its broadcast, boasting that “they cannot even ban our local station”.
The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has jammed signals from Radio Biafra, Shade Yemi-Esan, permanent secretary, ministry of information, said on Tuesday.
Yemi-Esan also said the commission was working with security agencies to apprehend those behind the radio, which according to her does not have operating license.
“Right now the signals from radio Biafra have been jammed successfully by the NBC,” she told state house correspondents in Abuja.
“The commission is also working with security agencies to get those that are behind that radio because it is an illegal radio. It is not licensed by anybody to be on the airwave in Nigeria.”
She explained that the president expressed concern over the delay in the payment of salaries in some media organisations.
“I think it was last week that one of the newspapers was shut down because of non-payment of salaries. I think that should not be heard of in a country like Nigeria,” she said.
“Mr. President frowns on things like that, the welfare of every Nigerian, especially journalists is one of the major concerns that we have.”
Yemi-Esan added that Buhari also directed that the issue of piracy affecting the entertainment industry be addressed in order to enhance development in the industry.
“The President raised concerns about piracy in Nollywood and he has instructed us to work harder to ensure that the producers of Nollywood films get what is due to them and that we reduce piracy to the barest minimum,” she said.
