The British government has said its refusal to shut down Radio Biafra, an arm of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), is not deliberate, but that it has not received any request from Nigerian government to the effect of doing so.
The statement, understood to be a reply to an allegation by the Nigerian Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, came from British High Commission, in a statement by its Press and Public Affairs Officer, Joe Abuku.
The Nigerian Information and Culture Minister, Mohammed, had been quoted as saying the British government had continued to allow the Radio Biafra despite the damage done with it by Nnamdi Kanu and the IPOB that he led.
Mohammed had reportedly said: “Who does not know that the IPOB internal radio is located in London? We know the diplomatic moves we have been taking and approaching the UK, all the damages it (Radio Biafra) has done, but they don’t see it that way, for them (the British government), it is about freedom of expression.”
But the United Kingdom said there was no request from the Nigerian government to have the radio shut down.
The short statement said: “The UK is not aware of any representation from the Nigerian government about Radio Biafra.
“Were we to receive any such request, we would of course consider it carefully on the basis of the available evidence, recognising that freedom of speech and expression carries responsibilities.”
