Boko Haram: Mailafiya Made U-Turn; Says He Got His Information From Trader Not Insurgent

He was invited as a guest on the program, in which they were dissecting the causes and possible solutions to security problems in the southern Kaduna axis. However, after a serious grilling from the DSS office on Wednesday in Plateau state, Mailafiya made U-turn and apologizes that he got the information from his village market from one Fulani trader when he went to buy fonio.

He said his statement was not meant to target anyone or to cause any confusion in the land. After the allegation by Mailafiys, the chairman of the Northern Governors Forum, Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau state called for a serious investigation to unravel the truth of the claim, saying the allegation was too heavy to be swept under the carpet.

Mailafiya claimed he spoke because of his concern for the north and Nigeria at large but he didn’t know the video could go viral. In the interview he granted to the BBC Hausa service and monitored by Daily Trust, Mailafia said he had agreed to an online radio interview with people who were unknown to him from Lagos, but did not know that they were recording it. “I thought it was for a local FM radio in Lagos,” he said.

Though claiming that he was a fan of President Muhammadu Buhari, but said he takes the full responsibility of the video, claiming that he never knew the interaction could go viral.

While explaining what transpired at the DSS office when he was invited in their Jos office, Mailafiya stated that the secret police accorded him with much respect and told him that they had seen a video clip in which he said he was against the killings of innocent people and that he met with some people who told him that when they are done with the villages, they will move to the cities and go after big personalities in their homes and will eventually lead to war in the country. He said he repeated it to them that, that is what he heard.

The former CBN Deputy Governor said, the security did their Job and he cooperated with them the necessary information he had and cannot lie about that. However, he apologizes to them for saying information that was not verifiable.

Mailafiya said “I am not a troublesome person, my name is Mailafia (peace lover), I said what I said because of my sympathy for the people, my love for northern Nigeria. They are those who have been accusing me of not being a northern patriot but the killings are more in northern Nigeria.”

NBC slams N5m fine on the radio station. The comment of Mailafiya has attracted a fine of N5million on the FM radio for airing a hate speech by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC).

The NBC while slamming the fine on the radio station stated, The National Broadcasting Commission Fines Nigeria Info 99.3 for Unprofessional Broadcast’, the NBC said it noted with “grave concern, the unprofessional conduct” of the station, which it said provided its platform for Mailafia to “promote unverifiably and inciting views that could encourage or incite crime and lead to public disorder.”

It continued, “Mailafia’s comments on the “Southern Kaduna Crisis”, were devoid of facts and by broadcasting the same to the public, Nigeria Info 99.3FM, is in violation of the following sections of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code: “3.1.1. No broadcast shall encourage or incite to crime, lead to public disorder or hate, be repugnant to public feelings or contain an offensive reference to any person or organization, alive or dead or generally be disrespectful to human dignity;

“Consequent on these provisions and in line with the amendment of the 6th edition of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code, Nigeria Info 99.3FM Lagos, has been fined the sum of N5,000,000.00 (Five Million Naira), only.