Hate speech: Former minister reminds Nigerians about Biafra conflict, warns citizens against being led into another civil war
- A former Nigerian minister, Jibril Aminu has linked the propagation of hate speech and fake news, with the onset of the 1967 Civil War
- Aminu urged Nigerians to be wary of being caught in the same trap that brought about the civil war
- The former minister also appealed to the media to avoid taking actions that can divide the nation
Jibril Aminu, a former minister, has stated that the 1967 Civil War was caused by hate speech and the spread of fake news in the media, Premium Times reports.
Aminu made his comments while speaking in Kano at the 4th annual conference of the Association of Communication Scholars and Professionals of Nigeria, on Wednesday, August 6.
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Speaking alongside the minister of information, Lai Mohammed, Aminu urged Nigerians to be wary of being caught in the same trap that brought about the civil war.
He further appealed to the media to avoid actions capable of dividing the country.
On his part, the minister of information described the rise of hate speech as ‘worrisome’, and disclosed that the federal government is taking steps to address this scourge.
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Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously reported that the Nigerian military said it will not arrest anybody who makes hate speeches on social media because it is not empowered by law to do so.
This bit of information was made public by the director of defence information Major General John Enenche, in an inerview.
Enenche said the military had no plans to arrest anyone that makes anti-military or anti-government comments on social media as was widely believed.
Watch this NAIJ.com TV video of Ojukwu's bunker during the Civil War