‘Forces within Plateau govt are not comfortable with Jay FM’

BY Kingsley Chukwuka, Jos

We know that there are forces within the government of Plateau state that are not comfortable with Jay FM, said the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of a local radio station in Jos, Clinton Garuba.

“The forces within the government circle have boasted that they would shutdown the station before the gubernatorial and state Assembly elections after the widely applauded coverage we did during the Presidential and National Assembly elections”.

Recall that a popular radio station in Jos was shut down for allegedly airing inciting programmes during a post-election controversy in a volatile Local Government Area of Jos North.

Its news reports and analyses on the delayed National Assembly election results in the LGA necessitated the shutdown.

The directive to go off air was received by management of the station on Friday evening from the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Jos.

Other reason which the station had earlier complied with was also cited as a reason for the shutdown.

“We know that these forces used very powerful security managers of the Federal Government to forcefully accomplish our shutdown.

Though it seems they may have succeeded temporarily, we know the airwaves belong to the people, and the people know what the truth is. They also know truth always triumphs over falsehood, the way Jay FM will overcome all persecution, intimidation, molestation, and attacks”, the MD Garuba said.

He also revealed that thugs who are believed to be working for the state Governor, Simon Lalong have molested one of his reporters.

“Let me quickly remind gentlemen of the Press that not too long ago thugs attacked one of our reporters just in front of the station, in a branded car with the inscription “Lalong Boys” for reporting what was not too far from the truth”.

He also alluded that the operatives of the Department of State Services, (DSS), has also invited members and staff of the station. 

“On Thursday 28th February, 2019 at about 3:00pm, operatives of the Department of State Services, DSS, stormed our premises and demanded that the Station Manager Mr. Mangna Yusuf Wamyil must come with them to their office. Being that the Station Manager was not available at that time, they insisted that a senior staff must go with them, hence they took the Head of Engineering Mr. Ojingwa Oji, who was eventually released around 5pm the same day on the condition that the Station Manager reports to their office the following day at 10:30am.

“In shutting down Jay FM, the commission claimed that the Station’s continued broadcast may lead to break down of law and order. As groundbreaking as this allegation appears to be, the commission did not give one instance after the two previous cases when the Station was involved in any form of breach or improper conduct that would warrant a heavy sanction as a shutdown. The Jos Zonal Office only said it has been directed that the Station should shut down operations.

To all discerning minds, this suggests that the directive may have been handed down from above, which in itself is an anomaly. The normal and usual process would have been for the zonal office to monitor, sanction, and report to the headquarters. But where the shutdown of Jay FM Jos is concerned, there are sound reasons to doubt if that is the case. To us this is a typical case of the voice of Jacob and the hands of Esau”, he said.