Employees of the African Independent Television (AIT), operated by DAAR Communications, were stranded yesterday in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, following the decision of the state government to demolish an analogue communication mast and the transmission house of the station.
It was learnt that government officials failed to pull down the mast on Sunday but returned yesterday to complete the job.
The mast reportedly fell on the transmission building during the demolition, getting the media house off the air instantly.
The development was said to have shut down AIT’s terrestrial station within the state, the Southsouth and the Southeast.
The state government has been having a running battle with DAAR Communications to reclaim parts of the vast land occupied by AIT in the area designated as Government Reserved Area (GRA) 5.
During the dismantling of the mast, which started around 8 a.m and ended at 1 p.m, most employees of the company became helpless, moving about without having anything to do.
But an employee, who spoke in confidence, explained that the Rivers State government should not be blamed for its action as it had given AIT a reasonable time to relocate the facility.
He said: “It is not the government’s fault. After reclaiming a chunk of the land, the Rivers State government confined AIT’s operation to enough plots of land allocated to it in the area.
“The government asked the company to relocate its mast to the area. The government even fenced the property for the company. For over nine months, AIT could not relocate the mast.
“Perhaps, they were waiting for the state government to build a new mast for them after helping them to fence the property. So, for me, it is not the fault of the state government.”
But another source, who also spoke in confidence, said: “The state government brought a letter in March, gave us 48 hours to relocate the mast and the transmitter’s building. The case on this land is still in court and the court has not asked us to remove it. This very issue is handled from our head office in Abuja.
“The government only came back on Sunday and gave us four hours to move our things out of the transmission room. But we could not because it was raining. On Monday, they came and pulled down the mast. The tall mast fell on the transmission building and destroyed the building.”
The Nation
