In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

MPAC CONDEMNS CHANNELS TELEVISION’S MISLEADING CAPTIONING OF MAIDUGURI MOSQUE BOMBING, CALLS FOR NBC SANCTION AND INVESTIGATION

(Lagos, Thursday, 25/12/2025)

The Muslim Public Affairs Centre (MPAC), Nigeria, strongly condemns the misleading, insensitive, and deeply troubling editorial decision by Channels Television in its reportage of the bombing of a mosque at a market in Maiduguri, Borno State. The incident in question was a bomb attack on a mosque, resulting in the death of five Muslim worshippers and injuries to over thirty-five others. It was an attack on innocent civilians engaged in worship – an act that security sources and public authorities have rightly described as barbaric and reprehensible.

However, Channels Television, in its caption and framing of the story, deliberately omitted any reference to the mosque and the Muslim identity of the victims, while introducing an entirely unrelated and inflammatory reference to “Christmas Eve.” This insertion is not only factually unnecessary, it is editorially reckless. We ask, plainly and without equivocation: What is the relevance of Christmas to a bomb attack on a mosque in Maiduguri? The answer, regrettably, points to a dangerous pattern. Evidence shows that the report was initially published without any reference to Christmas, only for the phrase to be inserted later – clearly to drive engagement, provoke emotion, and potentially inflame religious tensions in an already fragile national context.

Notably, most foreign media outlets have reported this tragic news with both clarity and accuracy, highlighting the mosque attack and the Muslim victims without sensationalism. This stark contrast underscores the deliberate bias in Channels Television’s reporting.

This action raises serious concerns about intentional manipulation, institutional bias, and the weaponization of language in media reporting. MPAC notes with deep concern that this is not an isolated incident. Channels Television has, on multiple occasions, demonstrated intense hostility against Islam and a tendency to downplay, distort, or obscure stories involving Muslim victims, often erasing their religious identity while amplifying narratives that invite suspicion, fear, or hostility toward Islam and Muslims. When Muslim lives are lost, their identities are muted. When Muslim spaces are attacked, the spaces are unnamed. When Muslim pain is reported, politics is inserted. This is unacceptable in a plural, multi-religious society such as Nigeria.

The Maiduguri mosque bombing was a human tragedy, and the nation must be allowed to honour the victims, dead and injured. Families lost loved ones, worshippers were maimed and community was traumatized. Yet, Channels Television only saw an opportunity to play politics of division and sensationalism. To editorialize such suffering for clicks, ratings, or sectarian undertones is to play politics with blood. Media institutions wield enormous power. With that power comes responsibility – especially in a country where careless words can ignite violence.

MPAC hereby calls for the following:

– Immediate intervention by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to investigate Channels Television’s editorial conduct in this report and apply appropriate sanctions in line with the Nigeria Broadcasting Code.