How NBC ‘Kicked’ Cheta Nwanze Off Air For Discussing Asaba Massacre

Cheta Nwanze, social commentator and researcher at SBM Intelligence, says he was sent off air on Thursday while having a live interview on Nigeria Info FM, TheCable reports.

Nwanze, who was the former managing editor at YNaija, an internet newspaper for young Nigerians, told TheCable that the station manager claimed to have received a phone call from the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) ordering him to stop the discussion.

“We were on air, I was talking, the station manager came in, spoke to Nelly (the host), and she stopped me and played an advert,” he told TheCable.

“Then she reached out to him and found out that the NBC had called him to stop the discussion.

“I was talking about the Asaba Massacre. It happened on October 7, 1967.”

The show, Midday Dialogue, was hosted by Nelly Kalu.

Efforts to reach the radio station and the show host to confirm the incident proved abortive as they did not respond to the messages sent via Twitter.

The Asaba massacre occurred during the Nigerian civil war. Troops had invaded the houses of civilians, who they claimed were Biafran sympathisers.

About 700 lives were reportedly lost in the incident.

The 50th anniversary of the event is expected to hold in Asaba, Delta state capital, with dignitaries like Wole Soyinka, Nobel Laureate, Donald Duke; former governor of Cross River and Matthew Kukah, bishop of Sokoto diocese, in attendance.

– TheCable