Joshak Habila, police commissioner for Abia State has that the Nigeria Police Force is not responsible for clamping down on frequencies of illegal radio stations.
Habila made this known in an interview with Punch in Umuahia on Saturday, September 12, 2015 in which he said that the police was depending on members of the public to provide information on the location of Radio Biafra.
In July, the Federal Government claimed it had shut down the pirate radio station which calls for the actualisation of the defunct Biafra Republic. The next day, Radio Biafra issued a statement saying the government was lying. In August, the transmission of the station resumed.
Joshak said that the police cannot work effectively without the co-operation of the public on the matter.
“There are those responsible for tracking down operators of unapproved radio frequencies. Police do have some roles to play but I don’t think the police are the ones that will be able to jam the frequency.
“There is an agency of government responsible for that. I think members of the public have a better role to play in volunteering information to security agencies to clamp down on the radio station.
“I think it is the duty of everyone to help trace them because if they exist they don’t exist in the blues. They exist among members of the public. Thus, it is those who reside around here that should be able to volunteer information.
“The indigenous people of Biafra are said to be the people operating the Radio Biafra. We are gathering information but you should know that they are subversive and have also spoken against constituted authorities,” Joshak told the reporter.
Joshak maintained that the existence of the pirate radio station was “a very big issue to be decided by the Inspector General of Police”.
Radio Biafra broadcasts on the FM frequency and is popular in the South Eastern cities of Aba and Enugu and in the Rivers State capital, Port Harcourt.. It’s popularity continues to grow despite a clampdown of the Nigerian government on the station. According to reports, the signal “is strong” in the areas where it is heard.
