Ericsson Nigeria has admitted that a contract employee working with it
was actually responsible for the Radio Biafra transmitter installed on
an MTN mast in Enugu.
In a statement signed by its Managing Director,
Johan Jemdahl, the firm said it had confiscated the transmitter and had
notified the authorities.
The statement reads: “Illegal FM
transmitting equipment was discovered connected to an outsourced MTN
mast, managed by Ericsson, in Enugu in Eastern Nigeria. The equipment
was immediately confiscated and the authorities were notified. A
contractor to Ericsson has subsequently been taken into police custody
after his involvement was discovered. He has been discharged from his
contracted responsibilities with Ericsson.
“Ericsson views this
incident in an extremely serious light. It is the result of a violation
of its process that permits access to its mast sites. As a result,
Ericsson has initiated immediate action to foil any similar attempts.
All mast sites in Enugu and Port Harcourt regions have been audited
while FM scanning was conducted. Critical attention was given to all
high masts and sites located in mountainous areas, i.e. locations
attractive for illegal activities. In addition, the Site Access Process
will be reviewed for all employees and third parties.
"We
sincerely regret the unfortunate incident, which violates our code of
business ethics and code of conduct, contracted responsibilities as well
as our company’s values.”
An MTN source had disclosed that the engineer, David Nwawuisi, “was
able to install the transmitters because he worked with Ericsson
Nigeria Limited, one of the companies to which the telecommunications
firm outsources the maintenance of its base stations.”
MTN
owns 12,000 base stations across the country, and Huawei, a Chinese
networking and manufacturer of telecommunications equipment, is the
other company that is responsible for the maintenance of these base
stations.
However, Nwawuisi, who is currently standing trial with
the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, is a field
maintenance engineer with the Swedish technology company.
The MTN
source, who did not wish to be mentioned, said Nwawuisi’s role was to
grant access to IPOB engineers to mount the transmitters on MTN’s masts
under his care.
“The transmitters, which were used in boosting the
signals of Radio Biafra allegedly transmitted from London, the United
Kingdom, were discovered by the security agencies on MTN masts in Enugu
and Anambra states,” one of the sources said.
According to
him, the second suspect, Benjamin Madubugwu, helped with the
installation of the transmitters in Anambra State, also in concert with
IPOB engineers.
Both men were contacted by Chidibere Onwudiwe, a
suspected IPOB member, for the job, according to court papers filed by
the Federal Government.
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