The Benue State Government on Thursday sealed off Joy FM 96.5 Otukpo, a radio station owned by former Senate President Dr. David Mark, in a commando-style operation.
The raid occurred around 1 pm when two trucks filled with armed policemen arrived at the station.
The operation was led by Mr. Sunday Odagba, Chairman of the Benue Internal Revenue Service (BIRS), and Mr. Ikwue Ikwue from the State Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Otukpo Zone.
Staff members on duty during the incident were reportedly manhandled. In an alarming turn of events, Mr. Oloche Adeyi, who was reading the 1 pm network news, was reportedly forced at gunpoint to abruptly stop the broadcast, an action that goes against media and broadcasting ethics.
The station’s Managing Director, Amb. Christabel Iyanya, confirmed the incident, stating:
“They came and took siege on the station and caused pandemonium, as nobody was aware of their coming or the reason they have to invade a running station with two trucks of armed policemen.”
She described how her staff were physically manhandled, mentioning that “they manhandled my staff on duty, right from the receptionist, Juliana Ameh, one of our old staff members, Mallam Jibrin, my head of news, Cletus Ogbaje; and even went to the studio with heavily armed policemen and forced Oloche Adeyi, who was reading the 1 pm news to stop the bulletin, at gunpoint.”
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Iyanya went on to explain that the authorities “entered all the offices and drove everybody out at gunpoint” and expressed concern that she was away attending business in Igumale, Ado Local Government Headquarters at the time.
“Unfortunately, I was away in Igumale, Ado Local Government Headquarters, to attend to a business. All our entrance doors were destroyed,” she added.
She expressed disbelief at the scale of the raid, saying:
“This is the height of it. I only watch this in movies. I have never heard nor seen a media house being invaded with such a large number of armed men, over what they call business premises.” According to Iyanya, the authorities claimed the station owed N150,000 for business premises, but she was not aware of this issue.
“They said the station was owing N150,000 for business premises. This, we were not aware of.”
Iyanya questioned the motives behind the raid, noting that the person responsible for leading the operation, Ikwue Ikwue, was from her locality and could have informed her if there were any outstanding payments.
“The people who led this operation, especially, Ikwue Ikwue, is from the same locality with me. He sees me all the time. If my station was owing any bill, he should have told me and I would pay immediately.”
She also emphasized the station’s track record of timely payments, saying, “We have been operating for almost two decades and we have never defaulted in the payment of any bills or taxes, whatsoever.”
Iyanya strongly condemned the invasion, stating:
“This is beyond tax. This is something they will have to explain to us. This stands condemned. We are definitely going to contest this.”
As the Deputy National Chairman of the Society of Nigerian Broadcasters (SNB), Iyanya has vowed to take action against what she sees as an unjust and overly aggressive approach to handling the alleged debt.