The Rivers State government has described DAAR Communications, owners of AIT/Raypower radio and television stations, as ungrateful tenants.
According to the Rivers government, the media company has been operating on free land in the state for over 20 years without paying a dime to anyone.
OsunDailyNG recalls that the management of DAAR Communications Plc had alleged that the Rivers government destroyed its mast and building in the state.
In a statement on Monday, the media organisation said officials of the Rivers government, accompanied by security personnel, were behind an operation that resulted in the collapse of its assets in the state.
The media organisation claimed that the demo listing had affected about 85 per cent of its workforce, drawn from four state communities.
The Acting Head of Daar Communications in Port Harcourt, Anthony Ekiko, has condemned the act, saying the organisation was not consumed before the demolishing.
However, in its reaction, the Rivers State government, through its Commissioner for Works, George Kelly-Alabo, also claimed that the land and the mast belonged won’t and not AAR communications.
The commissioner explained that the mast hitherto belonged to the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, which handed it over to the state government, and it also gave it to DAAR Communications.
Kelly claimed that the media organisation has no documentation of the said land while displacing reports that the former Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, was behind the demolishing of the stricture.
The Rivers government t has asserted that the media outfit was blackmailing it for taking back a property it acquired unlawfully.
The commissioner said,” The building that has been housing the media was given to AIT/Raypower free of charge by the Rivers State government all these years
“That property belongs to the Rivers State government, and that property has been given to them pro bono all these years.
“Today, they are blackmailing the Rivers State government who has been so magnanimous to them. This is the height of ingratitude.
“There is no Certificate of Occupancy(C of O), and the company has never paid any ground rent to the government for over 20 years for using the land.
“When you write them letters, they will not respond. You call them for a meeting they will not respond. When you send them letters, sometimes, they refuse to pick them, and you are compelled to paste them on their gate. How can a responsible organisation be using a state government property for the past 20 years, and they’re not paying anything, and now they are blackmailing the River State government. Is it right?”
