President Muhammadu Buhari
Presidency warns against circulating inflammatory messages
The Presidency has cautioned Nigerians on taking the laws into their hands by undertaking reprisal attacks, as a result of the circulation of viral videos on social media platforms.
In a message, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu said the government will not fold its arms and allow anyone to jeopardize peace in any part of the country.
“The Presidency wishes to caution against any knee-jerk reactions, the creation of panic, disruption of lives and livelihoods, or even retaliatory violence following the viral videos of the alleged killings of non-indigenes by the Eastern Security Network (ESN) and its mother terrorist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
“While expert agencies are now verifying the factuality and veracity of the claims that accompany the horrid pictures being circulated, we call on all citizens to avoid hasty steps or conclusions that could exacerbate the situation, and on the contrary keep to a line of conduct that will help the law to take its proper course,” he said.
Shehu also used the opportunity to warn against the indiscriminate circulation of videos carrying inflammatory messages.
“The Presidency also cautions the public against the indiscriminate sharing of posts on social media so as to deny vested interests who seek to divide us and create disturbance the chance to do so.
“In the issuance of his very strong condemnation of these “wild, barbarous and wanton killings of innocent people” in the South-East as well as the other parts of the country, which he described as “deeply distressing,” President Muhammadu Buhari warns the perpetrators of these acts to expect tough response from the security forces,” he added.
