The Mutual Union of Tiv United Kingdom (MUTUK), a socio-cultural umbrella organisation of the Tiv in the United Kingdom (UK), is demanding an apology from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) over what MUTUK considered a damaging report “over the recent killings in Yelwata, Benue State, Nigeria.”
On June 13, armed men attacked Yelwata, leaving over 200 killed, scores injured, and thousands displaced. Already, 28 persons have been arrested for direct involvement in the attacks.
The BBC, in a report authored by Mansur Abubakar, Kano, dated June 16 and updated June 19, “deliberately attributed the massacre of over 200 Tiv people in Yelewata community by the Fulani ethnic militia and killer herders to climate change and sought to misinform the World about who the perpetrators of the massacre were-Jihadists fulani ethnic militia and herders.”
MUTUK, in a complaint to the BBC, a copy of which was obtained by TNT, is demanding that the BBC bring down the “false article and report that is targeted at maliciously misrepresenting the truth about the on-going Tiv massacre in Nigeria without any further delay.
“We also demand that the BBC tender an unreserved public apology to the Tiv Community both in Nigeria and globally.”
According to the complaint, MUTUK takes strong exception to the use of media platforms to potentially cause further irreparable harms that risk the lives and safety of the Tiv people in Nigeria and beyond.
MUTUK is concerned that large scale massacres of the Tiv that have every semblance of genocide have been misrepresented and underreported by mainstream media such as the BBC, highlighting the BBC’s latest report: “What is behind the wave of killings in central Nigeria?,” as one of those that misrepresents the facts of killings in Benue State.
“The Tiv people in Nigeria who are indigenes of Benue state, Nassarawa state, and Taraba state have been facing systematic ethnic cleansing since the year 2011. Thousands of people, including women and children, have been gruesomely murdered in their sleeps by the Fulani ethnic militia and killer herders.
“A further substantial population of the Tiv people numbering over 3 million have been displaced by these terrorists.
“However, these large-scale massacres that have every semblance of genocide have been misrepresented and underreported by mainstream media such as the BBC,” the complaint reads.
MUTUK, therefore, considers the BBC report as a deliberate falsehood, misrepresentation of the truth, and “a grave offence against the victims of the massacre and the entire Tiv community globally.”
BBC reportage of Benue massacre by the Fulani ethnic militia was biased and notoriously prejudiced. I am still wondering what amount of bribes they received to carry out this gross misrepresentation of truth.