By Patrick Ahanor
Benin City
A rampaging fire on Saturday razed a Benin City-based independent television station.
The inferno was said to have occurred around 9.15pm while the station was broadcasting the Network news of Nigeria Television Authority (NTA).
A visit to the media organisation’s office at Iguosa community, near Benin City, showed that its TV studio was completely destroyed by the fire, while part of the radio studio was also torched.
The TV station is owned by a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, Sir Gabriel Igbinedion.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the media organsation and the state government was severed by the latter last January over what it termed the station’s “biased and false” reportage.
The government had afterwards petitioned the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), but the duo had since resolved their differences and the MoU restored.
Speaking with journalists inside the burnt studio of the organisation, the station’s Head of News, Mr Abiodun Mudashiru, said combined forces of fire-fighters from the Edo state Fire Service, the University of Benin and the Military Fire Service prevented the inferno from ravaging the entire building.
He explained: “It was some minutes after 9pm last night (Saturday) when the network news was going on that (technical) operatives observed that there was an explosion in the main studio.
“They usually sit behind the walls. When they heard the light explosion, they decided to investigate what was happening. In the process of doing that, the roof just came down at once with a wild fire. That was it and before we knew it, the whole place was engulfed in flames.”
Mudashiru, however, stated that the station was yet to issue official statement on the tragedy.
Commenting on the incident, the state PDP chairman, Chief Dan Orbih, who led a delegation on a condolence visit to the station, said the incident was a “malicious attack.”
He alleged that the incident was a further revelation of the evil plan of those who have been threatening to deal with the opposition party in Edo state and their businesses.
He said: “Their plan is to cripple our campaign since they know that ITV has given us voice after the state owned Edo broadcasting Service categorically told us that they cannot air our views and programmes as a matter of policy.
“ITV’s crime is that they have allowed every voice to be aired and given opportunity to everyone to speak.
“The people that the state government usually use for dirty jobs such as this are known to the public. We asked the law enforcement agencies to investigate the perpetrators of this condemnable act and bring them to book.”