Posted by The Zamfara State Government told some public and private media outlets in the state to close down. The International Press Institute (IPI) Nigeria has responded to this.
460PLAY remembers that on Saturday, Bello Matawalle, the governor of Zamfara State, told some media outlets in the state to shut down right away for breaking journalism laws.
The order was written in a statement that was signed by Ibrahim Dosara, who is in charge of information.
“The Zamfara State Security Council has decided that some media outlets in the state should be shut down because they broke the rules of journalism.”
Radio Nigeria, NTA Gusau, Pride FM Gusau, Gamji Television, Al Umma TV, and Vision FM are all affected by this.
Reports say that this happened because of how the media covered an event put on by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Gusau, which is the capital of the state.
In response, IPI Nigeria’s President, Musikilu Mojeed, said in a statement released on Sunday that the Zamfara State Government doesn’t have the power to shut down media houses.
The IPI Nigeria asked the Zamfara State Police Commissioner to ignore what the state government had said and not close the airport.
Part of the statement says, “The state government’s order clearly goes against the Constitution as it was changed in 1999 and has no place in a civilized society like ours.”
“It reminds Nigerians of the bad old days of the military in Nigeria, when authoritarian governments shut down media outlets.
“IPI Nigeria, therefore, repeats its call for the immediate removal of all directives that limit freedom of speech in Zamfara State. It also wants the state government to apologize for its offensive action.
“IPI Nigeria also wants the federal government to tell the governor of Zamfara State to follow the rule of law by immediately rescinding the order to shut down the media organizations and not doing anything like that again.”