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ALERT - NIGERIA

25 November 2004

BBC correspondent banned by Borno state government

SOURCE: Media Rights Agenda (MRA), Lagos

(MRA/IFEX) - On 24 November 2004, the Borno state government in northern
Nigeria declared the British Broadcasting Corporation's (BBC) Hausa Service
correspondent, Alhaji Adamu Mato, a "persona non grata" and banned him from
continuing to report from the state following allegations of "incorrect"
reporting about the region. The government has banned the correspondent from
the state's Government House in Maiduguri and all government institutions,
ministries and parastatals, in addition to public functions.

The ban on Mato was outlined in a statement issued by the state commissioner
for information, Alhaji Mohammed Al-Amin Kamselem. The commissioner said the
order to restrict the correspondent from working in the state was the result
of a resolution passed by the State House of Assembly on 20 November, urging
the government to "urgently replace Mato in the interest of the people and
objective journalistic reporting."

The resolution, according to Kamselem's statement, called on the executive
arm of government to, "in the interim disallow the affected correspondent
from having access to any of the government institutions or public
functions," to prevent the recurrence of subjective reporting by the BBC. It
claimed that Mato's reporting could destabilise the democracy that Nigerian
citizens have fought to build and sustain.

Kamselem said that, despite the ban, a replacement would be accepted by the
state government as it had no grudge against the BBC as an organisation or
any of its affiliates.

All of the state's security agencies have been informed of the order against
the correspondent and advised to take any necessary action in the event of a
breach of the ban.

For further information, contact Ayode Longe, Media Rights Agenda, 10
Agboola Aina Street, off Amore Street, Ikeja, P.O. Box 52113, Ikoyi, Lagos,
Nigeria, tel: +234 1 493 6033, fax: +234 1 493 0831, e-mail:
[email protected], Internet: http://www.internews.org/mra

The information contained in this alert is the sole responsibility of MRA.
In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit MRA.
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