(MRA/IFEX) – On 24 November 2004, the Borno state government in northern Nigeria declared the British Broadcasting Corporation’s (BBC) Hausa Service correspondent, Alhaji Adamu Mato, a “persona non grata” and banned him from continuing to report from the state following allegations of “incorrect” reporting about the region. The government has banned the correspondent from the […]
(MRA/IFEX) – On 24 November 2004, the Borno state government in northern Nigeria declared the British Broadcasting Corporation’s (BBC) Hausa Service correspondent, Alhaji Adamu Mato, a “persona non grata” and banned him from continuing to report from the state following allegations of “incorrect” reporting about the region. The government has banned the correspondent from the state’s Government House in Maiduguri and all government institutions, ministries and parastatals, in addition to public functions.
The ban on Mato was outlined in a statement issued by the state commissioner for information, Alhaji Mohammed Al-Amin Kamselem. The commissioner said the order to restrict the correspondent from working in the state was the result of a resolution passed by the State House of Assembly on 20 November, urging the government to “urgently replace Mato in the interest of the people and objective journalistic reporting.”
The resolution, according to Kamselem’s statement, called on the executive arm of government to, “in the interim disallow the affected correspondent from having access to any of the government institutions or public functions,” to prevent the recurrence of subjective reporting by the BBC. It claimed that Mato’s reporting could destabilise the democracy that Nigerian citizens have fought to build and sustain.
Kamselem said that, despite the ban, a replacement would be accepted by the state government as it had no grudge against the BBC as an organisation or any of its affiliates.
All of the state’s security agencies have been informed of the order against the correspondent and advised to take any necessary action in the event of a breach of the ban.
