AUDIENCE ATTITUDE TOWARDS TELEVISION COVERAGE OF PUBLIC EXECUTIONS

AUDIENCE ATTITUDE TOWARDS TELEVISION COVERAGE OF PUBLIC EXECUTIONS
 
ABSTRACT
The menaces of robbery have become a game of the fittest in our society today, that when robbers carryout and operation they boast of it and give names to themselves.
This attracts the attention of the people and all government to find a lasting solution to this dilemma.
This gives rise to the method of public execution of robbers in the state of Nigeria the robbers are publicly executed, the younger one still intends to join in this game and business and this makes it impossible for the method of government in eradicating robbery a reality.
The educated elites in the society says that the public execution is not helping matters while the less educated enjoyed it much and prefers it in television than radio and newspaper.
However, the research aims in carrying out this work is to know the audience /  people feeling towards public execution in Enugu state and how the government and the media have participated in helping matters.
 CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1            BACK GROUND OF THE STUDY
One of the consequences of the civil war in Nigeria was the increase I crime ware. Armed robbery was little know on the country before the war. The end of the war brought with it a groom of disillusioned young men who wanted to recover all they lost during the war. These were mostly young men into fought for or against secession only to find out that they had paved a way for a crop of nouveaux pitches. While the war raged on, a new class of elites were busy amazing wealth from war spoils and the oil boom.
Uninke Nawa writing in the Inside out says “ so fierce was this trend of development that the federal military government was forced to promulgate a decree on august 8, 1970. the decree was know as robbery and firearms (special provision) degree No 47. it made provisions for the setting up for tribunals in all state of the federation to try summarily those accused of armed robbery, the penalty was capital punishment.
According to Mr. Nawa’s writing the first public execution was at the bar beach Victoria Island on April 26th, 1971.
Although the decree also made provision for execution by hanging the offender by the neck, till he is dead, the government preferring public execution to serve as a deterrent to others intending to carry out such devilish action.
The increase in crime rate apparently could the promulgation of the robbery and five arms (special provision) decree by the Buhari administration. The name was changed to decree No. 5 of 1984. it made provision for public execution of armed robbers.
Apart from executing the robbers publicly, the media including television stations give the executions adequate coverage. Perhaps, this is to serve as a deterrent to other robbers
Since the re – introduction of these public executions a lot of armed robbers have been killed publicly by firing squad, burning alive and special style of executions and some of these executions have been telecast by the television hoses and announced by the radio stations, especially on Enugu state and Anambra state.
1.2            STATEMENT OF THE RESEARCH PROBLEM
One problem with the Nigerian press is that they care less about the feelings of their audience. Another problem is that they ado not know the effects of some of their programme on the audience. Once a programme has been introduced, nothing is doe to monitor the audience reactions.
Another problem is to know whether the media television telecast, will continue showing in detail the executions or not and this will depend on how the audience feel about them and the impact the exposure had made on the lives of the audience.