The Governor of Zamfara State, Ambassador Bello Matawalle, has ordered a total shut down of three television stations and one radio station for covering the rally organized by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state over the weekend.
Ambassador Matawalle gave the order through the state Commissioner for Information, Ibrahim Dosara, during the weekend.
In a radio broadcast, Mr. Dosara said the Zamfara State Government shut down the media houses for allegedly violating professional ethics.
The affected media stations are the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA), Gamji TV, Al-Umma TV and Pride FM radio, all in Gusau, the state capital.
According to Dosara, the affected media houses attended the rally organized by PDP, noting that the state government had earlier banned political rallies in the state for security reasons.
He said: “The state government has suspended all political activities in the state due to security challenges but the PDP ignored the order and held a rally in Gusau, the state capital, where one person was killed and 18 others were injured.
“The four media houses, NTA, Gamji TV, Al-Umma TV, and Pride FM radio, were also at the event to cover the occasion even though they were aware of the ban on political rallies by the state government.
“Given this, the four media houses are hereby closed down with immediate effect.
“The government has directed security agents to arrest any staff member of the affected stations who try to go into the stations to perform any duty.” Read more.