It's reported that eight security force members entered the Link FM and GTV studios in the early evening, and ordered all staff to leave the premises, before proceeding to place seals over the entrances. Apparently they were acting on "an order from above". The studios are still closed and employees have not been allowed to enter.
Having only been broacasting for a few weeks, station director Stanley Okoye said he did not know why they had suddenly been closed.
However, a Lagos-based journalist told Reporters Without Borders (RSF) that the federal government wanted to prevent the opposition from using the media to immediately broadcast the results provided by the observers it is deploying to polling stations throughout the country. The deployment is apparently an attempt to prevent the ruling party from rigging the 14 April elections.
"Elections should be a time when the government takes more care than ever to respect the rule of law," the press freedom organisation said. "Instead, the security forces are sent without a warrant to shut down media that could be a nuisance during the polling. There is no justification for the enforced closure of Link FM and GTV, so the measure should be lifted and their personnel should be allowed to return to work."
Source: RSF
