(MRA/IFEX) – On 14 May 2006, agents from the State Security Service (SSS), Nigeria’s intelligence service, raided the Abuja office of Daar Communications Limited, owners of Ray Power FM radio and the Africa Independent Television (AIT), and seized the master tape of a documentary film. Upon arrival at the premises, the security agents halted further […]
(MRA/IFEX) – On 14 May 2006, agents from the State Security Service (SSS), Nigeria’s intelligence service, raided the Abuja office of Daar Communications Limited, owners of Ray Power FM radio and the Africa Independent Television (AIT), and seized the master tape of a documentary film.
Upon arrival at the premises, the security agents halted further transmission of the documentary, which partly dealt with the extension of President Olusegun Obasanjo’s term in power, and seized the master tape for the documentary.
Chairman of Daar Communications Raymond Dokpesi, who confirmed the raid and seizure, said: “They came and said we should discontinue the documentary on tenure elongation. They demanded one of the master tapes and we gave them one.”
He said the plainclothes agents who raided the office claimed to have come from the Presidency.
Dokpesi said he would lodge a formal protest on the matter to the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), the regulatory authority for broadcasting in Nigeria.
The 30-minute documentary that was stopped by the security agents documents failed attempts by various past Nigerian heads of state to prolong their tenure in office.
Nigeria’s National Assembly is currently engaged in a debate over a controversial proposal to amend the 1999 Constitution in order, among other things, to extend the tenure of the President and state governors by a further four years. Under the present Constitution, Obasanjo is due to leave office in May 2007, having served two terms of four years each.
