Missing Trust Radio tower: Civil Defence fails to refund N6.5m

The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSDC) has failed to fulfil its promise to refund the cost of the Media Trust Group (MTG)’s radio tower, which went “missing” in the security agency’s custody. The national headquarters of the NSCDC had called for a meeting in November 2023 attended by Engineer Bello Magaji, the vendor […]

The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSDC) has failed to fulfil its promise to refund the cost of the Media Trust Group (MTG)’s radio tower, which went “missing” in the security agency’s custody.

The national headquarters of the NSCDC had called for a meeting in November 2023 attended by Engineer Bello Magaji, the vendor who sourced for and facilitated the sale of the tower to Media Trust Group.

Afterwards, the vendor informed the media organisation that the NSCDC had pledged to facilitate the refund of the N15 million cost of the tower in instalments.

“They pledged to pay N3 million by the end of December, N3.5 million at the start of January, and the balance before the end of the month.

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“However, only N2.4m has been paid to me now,” the vendor said.

While speaking with our correspondent on the phone on Thursday, the Assistant Commandant General of the NSCDC in charge of investigations, Makinde Ayinla, confirmed the agreement but expressed regrets that the scrap metal dealer alleged to be responsible for the missing item, Mustapha Bello, reneged on his promise to pay the agreed amount within the stipulated time.

“Along the line, he lost one of his children last year and this year, another one was hospitalised. I told them not to arrest him to allow him to take care of his child.

“When I put pressure on him, he sent me a fake alert of N1 million,” ACG Ayinla said.

He promised to effect his arrest later in the day (Thursday), promising that Bello would be compelled to honour the agreement.

He also disclosed that the Corps was on the verge of arresting the buyers of the missing tower, adding that they had been tracked down by his men.

The MTG last November began a frantic search for the radio tower meant for its newly established radio station in Abuja, which was decommissioned in a village in Niger State, but curiously disappeared with the suspected connivance of some officials of NSCDC.

The MTG, a Nigerian media conglomerate that owns Daily Trust, Trust Television, Aminiya, and Teen Trust, has 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 take-off 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, Magaji, had, since July last 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.

And based on this, Media Trust entered into a formal contractual agreement with Dynamic Kautal Hore and equally advanced to the contractor for the acquisition, decommissioning, transportation, and installation of the tower on its premises in Abuja.

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 has yet to be delivered to MTG.

On the 30th of October 2023, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Trust Radio, Muhammad Kabir Muhammad, notified the management of MTG of credible information he got that the decommissioned radio tower had been “snatched away” from the contractor by persons suspected to be officials of the NSCDC.

When contacted, Engr Magaji confirmed that some persons had swooped on the equipment and loaded its decommissioned parts into a vehicle, and moved the same to Minna, the Niger State capital.

The contractor explained further that he immediately returned to Kagara where he reported the matter to the police, after which he returned to Minna to engage with the Niger State Commandant of the NSCDC, Mr Elijah Etim Willie.

According to him, he also laid a complaint to the Niger State NSCDC commandant, who informed him that the command would investigate the incident.