Lai Mohammed, Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture who met with the Nigerian ambassador to the US, Sylvanus Nsofor, in Washington over the weekend, told Nigerians living abroad to be careful of the news they read about Nigeria online as 80% of them are fake.
Backing his claims with farmers/herders clashes, Lai Mohammed said news platforms reported that the two Catholic priests killed in Benue in April were killed by herdsmen but investigations revealed that they were killed by armed militia.
“Fake news and misinformation when mixed with hate speech threaten the peace, unity, security and corporate existence of Nigerians. Many people in the diaspora depend a lot on Social media for news about Nigeria. However, 80 percent of what you read on social media is fake. Please, we implore you to visit our website fgnnformation.iapp where you can find information that is genuine about Nigeria.
When you go by social media, the impression you get is as if Nigeria is at war and as if Muslims are killing Christians and about ethnic war. However, those disgruntled politicians have now tried to factor ethnicity and religion into the situation that we have in the country. Our challenges have nothing to do with religion or ethnicity” he said.
The Minister had before now told Nigerians in Diaspora, that with President Muhammadu Buhari piloting the affairs of Nigeria, the country is in very safe and competent hands, hence there is no cause for alarm.
The minister said this at a town hall meeting with the staff of the Nigerian Embassy in Madrid, Spain and a cross section of Nigerians living in the European countries.
In a statement by the minister’s media aide, Segun Adeyemi, Mohammed said contrary to the fake news being peddled on the Social Media, Nigeria is making steady progress, especially in revamping the economy, tackling insecurity and fighting corruption – the three cardinal programmes of the Buhari Administration