By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Niger’s military junta on Thursday announced the suspension of BBC radio for three months, for airing what it called “erroneous information likely to destabilise social peace and undermine the morale of the troops”.
The West African country has been fighting jihadists, including Boko Haram and the Islamic State in West Africa (ISWAP) group that have killed at least 1,500 civilians.
According to conflict monitoring group ACLED, this figure includes troops who were killed in the past one year, a number more than double the 650 killed from July 2022 to July 2023.
The suspension comes into force “with immediate effect” countrywide, the military government says.
The British broadcaster joins the growing list of Western media sanctioned by military junta in the Sahel since it took over power.
Popular BBC programmes including ones in the Hausa language are broadcast in Niger via local radio partners. Since seizing power in a July 2023 coup, the military government has banned several Western media outlets.
Apart from the BBC, two French broadcasters, Radio France Internationale (RFI) and France 24, have been banned in Niger since August 2023.
On Thursday evening, the junta also said it was “filing a complaint” against RFI.
No programme in particular was mentioned in the decisions taken concerning the BBC and RFI.
On Wednesday both broadcasters reported that jihadists had killed 90 soldiers and upwards of 40 civilians in Chatoumane, in the western Tera region bordering Burkina Faso teeming with armed fighters.
Niger’s junta in response denied the attack, describing reports as “baseless assertions” and a “campaign of intoxication”.
For years Niger along with its two neighbours Burkina Faso and Mali – has been plagued by jihadist violence.
All three of those Sahel countries have experienced military coups in recent years, and Niger’s fellow juntas have likewise suspended foreign media outlets.
