EndSARS: Buhari Group Insists Arise, AIT, Channels Deserved Sanctions

The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has been hailed for sanctioning Arise TV, AIT and Channels TV over their coverage of End SARS protests.

In a statement on Friday, by the Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and the Secretary, Cassidy Madueke, the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO), the group accused the three broadcast channels of contirbuting to escalate the crisis.

BMO stated that Arise TV, AIT and Channels TV breached extant regulatory guidelines.

“There can be no justification for Channels Television, Arise TV, and AIT to transmit footage obtained from unverified and unauthenticated social media sources,” it said.

BMO said the “amateurish conduct” only fell short of professional expectations.

It said their conduct “incited the youth to more violent behaviour”.

“They helped create a self-serving justification for the humungous looting spree that gripped many parts of the country. We commend the NBC for exercising obvious and strong regulatory surveillance over the broadcast industry and encourage the Commission to continue in this line”, the statement read.

Recall that the NBC fined the three television broadcasting media houses a sum of nine million naira (₦9,000,000).

They were each awarded an N3m fine over “unprofessional coverage” of the EndSARS protests across the nation.