The Nigerian Army has solicited the support of the media towards the enlightenment of the general public on the dangers of misinformation and fake news for the general security of the country.
Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Farouk Yahaya made the appeal at an event organised by the Department of Civil Military Affairs, Nigerian Army for social media influencers, bloggers and online journalists in Benin City Edo State Capital.
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The 22nd edition of the seminar with theme: “The Nigerian Army’s Non- Kinetic lines of operation: Role of the social media, is targeted at curbing the menace of fake news and the damages it has continue to cause the nation’s integrity.
Represented by the Chief of Civil-Military Affairs, Maj Gen. Marcus Kyangye, the Chief of Army Staff noted that the Nigerian Army is not unaware of the negative effect fakes news has caused the nation, adding that this is the reason the Army came up with such seminar.
He called on the General Public to take into cognisance the importance of the peace and unity of the country especially as the nation prepares for the 2023 elections.
Participants at the seminar said, such program will help a great deal in changing the perception of the populace about the Nigerian Army and it’s operations.
The seminar is expected to help the Nigerian Army combat the threat of misinformation and fake news, as well as aid in the fight against insecurity in the country.
In addition, Mr Austin Peacemaker, Executive Director of Security Affairs Limited, stated that the company collaborated with the army because what happened online could either promote national security or derail the country’s peace.
“We have seen scenarios where the people would take pictures from war zones like Liberia, attached it and claimed it was the killing of soldiers in the northeast or Christians were killing Muslims in the east.
“The reports have affected our national security thereby leading to the loss of lives. So, we feel the need to address all these issues among the social media operators even with the mainstream media too.
“Whatever we are doing online, I think we should learn to put our national security first because other countries are judging us by what they read on our social media platforms,” he said.
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