The Federal Government has dismissed what it called an “unverified security alert” issued on Sunday by the United States (U.S.) and the United Kingdom to their citizens in Nigeria through their embassies.
Minister of Information, Culture, and Tourism, Lai Mohammed, condemned the act yesterday in Abuja at a ministerial panel of the ongoing UNESCO Media and Information Literacy Week.
He also slammed some local media outlets and social media for spreading security alerts without verifying their authenticity and consequences.
Mohammed who was a panelist at the UNESCO session with the topic: “National Media and Information Literacy Frameworks, Sustaining Beyond Disinformation’’ said the warning issued by the embassies which was not the true position of the security situation could create unnecessary tension and panic.
His words: “Some media outlets and social media personalities are usually caught spreading unverified information on their platforms just for click-bait and the attendant monetary gain.
“Talking of clickbait, this may be what informed the spread of the supposed security alert issued recently by some foreign embassies in Nigeria.
“One would imagine that if indeed this kind of security alert was issued, it was for the attention of citizens of the issuing countries in Nigeria.
“Suddenly, this alert found its way into the media, both new and traditional, thus creating panic in the polity.”
He reiterated his position that the country “is safer today than at any time in recent times’’, with the efforts and sacrifices of the military.
