The Federal Government has warned Nigerians against being incited to go violent by those circulating some fake news and videos in the wake of the xenophobic attacks against Nigerians and others in South Africa.
The appeal was made on Thursday by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in Abuja.
The minister who spoke at a press conference said some of the news and videos in circulation were rather untrue and meant to cause undue violence.
His words: “I also want to use this press conference to alert Nigerians to the video clips being circulated on the social media, purportedly showing how Nigerians are being killed in South Africa. Three of such videos come to mind:
“i. One video shows a man who has been set ablaze trying to escape, and those circulating the video identified the man as Nigerian. This is not true. The video shows Mozambican Ernesto Alfabeto Nhamuave, a victim of xenophobic violence in South Africa in 2008, and it is not that of a Nigerian being attacked in 2019.
“ii. Another video shows those said to be Nigerians jumping down from a multi-storey building that was purportedly set on fire by xenophobic attackers in South Africa. This is fake news as the video is that of a Suraj Coaching Centre in Gujarat State, India, that was gutted by fire on May 24, 2019, leaving about 18 people dead.
“iii. The third video, purportedly showing the bodies of Nigerians who were burnt in xenophobic attacks, is the raw footage of those who were killed in a Tanzanian fuel tanker explosion in Morogoro that left at least 60 dead on Aug. 10 2019.”
The government also warned those circulating the videos to desist from it.
“Those who are circulating these videos should immediately desist from doing so. Apart from inflaming passion, the videos are also complicating the efforts of the government to calm frayed nerves at home in the wake of the xenophobic attacks in South Africa. Recall, gentlemen, that we alerted Nigerians to the dangers posed by fake news and disinformation when we launched our National Campaign Against Fake News on July 11 2019. That campaign is more urgent now than ever, and I implore the media, in particular, to give it a renewed play. Fake news and disinformation represent a clear and present danger to every society,” the minister said.
While reiterating the need to desist from reprisal attacks, the minister said Nigerians would be hurting themselves more.
He however said security agents had been put on alert and ready to arrest the hoodlums who might want to hide under the protest to loot.
