FG moves against pirate Radio Biafra …

 … *Launch manhunt for sponsors, jam signals

OLUSESAN LAOYE

The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Information, Dr. Sade Yemi-Esan, yesterday, said that the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) has succeeded in stopping the signals of Radio Biafra because it was not licensed.

Yemi-Esan disclosed this to State House correspondents shortly after briefing President Muhammadu Buhari of her ministry’s activities inside the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

She said the commission was currently working with security agencies to apprehend those behind the illegal radio.

“We also gave a report on Radio Biafra. Right now, the signals from the radio have been jammed successfully by the NBC.

“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 airwaves in Nigeria.”

She added that the president had directed her ministry to put machinery in place to end the scourge of piracy in the nation’s movie industry.

She said the president gave a clear directive that the ministry must work hard to ensure that film producers get what is due to them.

“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.

“He charged law enforcement agencies to identify the perpetrators of copyright piracy, their sponsors and collaborators, and bring them to justice”, she said.

She added that the president frowned at some media houses that are in the habit of owing salaries.

She said Buhari saw the development as not too good for the country.

“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.

“Mr. President frowns on things like that; the welfare of every Nigerian, especially journalists, is one of the major concerns that we have.”

The permanent secretary said the president wanted the ministry to intensify publicity because of his desire that every Nigerian should know about policies and programmes of his government.

“The Federal Ministry of Information went to tell Mr President what we have been doing; the major activities in the ministry which are geared towards publicity of government programmes and how we get the feedback from Nigerians which influences policy decisions.

“We also talked to him about the nine parastatals that are under the ministry, the work they are doing and some of the challenges they face.

“We are happy with the response we got and the concerns of Mr President on the work we are doing, especially the publicity aspect. He wants us to intensify publicity because he wants every Nigerian to know about the policies and programmes of this government.”

She said they also talked about external publicity and the possibility of re-opening the federal information services abroad.

Buhari also charged the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) and the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) to tap into the opportunities presented by their wide reach to shore up their revenue profiles.