The Media Trust Group (MTG) has begun a frantic search for a radio tower meant for its newly established radio station in Abuja, which was decommissioned in a village in Niger State, but curiously disappeared.
The MTG, a Nigerian media conglomerate, which owns Daily Trust, Trust Television, Aminiya and Teen Trust, said it suspected the connivance of some officials of a government security organisation.
The company recently established Trust Radio, which has started streaming online, and is set to go on the terrestrial platform on 92.7FM band, to serve radio listeners in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
However, the formal takeoff of Trust Radio on the terrestrial platform has stalled due to the delayed delivery of a radio tower that has been acquired on its behalf by a company called Dynamic Kautal Hore Engineering Company Limited.
The CEO of the contracted company, Engr. Bello Magaji, had since July this year notified the MTG of the acquisition of the radio tower on its behalf in Maikujeri Village in Kagara local government area of Niger State.
But more than two months after the formal signing of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the two companies, and weeks after the expiration of the deadline for delivering on the deal, the tower is yet to be delivered to MTG.
The chief operating officer (COO) of Trust Radio, Muhammad Kabir Muhammad, had in October notified the management of the “missing” radio tower reportedly snatched away by persons suspected to be officials of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
Responding to the allegation, the public relations officer, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) Mr. Babawale Afolabi said, “We have commenced investigation to unravel the true state of the matter.
The spokesperson, who debunked claims about the involvement of a Niger State commandant in the saga said, “the alleged involvement of Mr. Elijah Etim Willie is not true.”
He said the commandant was barely two months in the state and the NSCDC headquarters was on top of the situation.