Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna state has identified hate speech and fake news as the biggest threats to national security.
El-Rufai, who called for collective action in tackling the menaces, made the observation when he received Maj-Gen. Anthony Alolagbe, the new Commander, Operation Safe Haven, a special task force established in 2010 in Plateau.
“There is need to curtail the emerging trend of using social media to create crisis in the country.I think collectively we have to fight it and discourage those behind it by arresting and prosecuting them,” he said.
El-Rufai who disclosed that the social media had been used to incite people to violence in the state warned that the government would not condone that anymore.
“In this state, we will not allow anyone engage in propagation of hate speech and fake news; there is provision in the penal code in Kaduna state that deals with that.”
He, however, expressed satisfaction that Nigerians were “becoming more aware of the dangers hate speech, fake news and the abuses on social media pose to the peace, unity and stability of this country.”
El-Rufai also told the commander that his administration was putting in place measures to promote social justice, and was working closely with all security agencies to sustain peace in the state.
“There are still challenges, but with the intervention of army and police it has been curtailed to some extent,” he said, adding that security agencies were doing their best to address them.
Speaking earlier, Alolagbe explained that the operation’s major duty was to protect all civilians in Southern Kaduna and Plateau, especially those living along the boundaries of the two states.
“We have deployed our security and patrol teams to ensure free movement of people carrying out lawful activities, and we have been able to curtail cross boarder banditry,’’ he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the mandate of Operation Safe Haven was extended to cover southern Kaduna in July 2017 after clashes there.
