New Telegraph

Terrorism Reporting: Buhari dragged to court over fines on Daily Trust, others

 

Francis Iwuchukwu

 

A legal action has been initiated against President Muhammadu Buhari by a Lagos-based human rights group, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID).

They are asking a Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, to “declare as arbitrary and illegal the N5 million imposed on Trust TV, MultiChoice Nigeria Limited, NTA-Startimes Limited and TelCom Satellite Limited, over their documentaries on terrorism in the country.”

Defendants in the legal offensive are Mr Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture, and the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC).

It would be recalled that NBC had last week imposed the fines on the media houses, claiming that their documentaries “glorified the activities of bandits and undermines national security in Nigeria”, and contravened the provisions of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code.

However, in their suit designated FHC/L/CS/1486/2022, SERAP and CJID are seeking: “An order setting aside the arbitrary and illegal fines of N5 million and any other penal sanction unilaterally imposed by the NBC on these media houses simply for carrying out their constitutional duties.”

According to the plaintiffs: “NBC and Mr Lai Mohammed have not shown that the documentaries by the media houses would impose a specific risk of harm to a legitimate State interest that outweighs the public interest in the information provided by the documentaries.

“The documentaries by these independent media houses pose no risk to any definite interest in national security or public order.”

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