The Nigerian government has reassured citizens and all those residing in the country of their security, as the military and all security agencies, are working hard to protect lives and property.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, gave the assurance while briefing State House Correspondents at the end of this week’s cabinet meeting chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
He said Nigerians and nationals of other countries residing in any part of Nigeria do not need to panic over the advisory issued to some nationals.
“Just on Sunday, there was this travel advisory issued by both the US and UK governments but those advisories were issued to their citizens. The Security, our soldiers and police are working round the clock to curtail any terrorists attack.
“We are currently hosting the UNESCO conference on Media and Information and Literacy, which is meant to equip the people on how to differentiate between fake news and genuine news. One of the things that we found out during the conference is that people these days don’t even analyse stories before they either consume it or share it.
“Of course the so-called travel advisory as far as we are concerned as a government we have in the last few months taken a firm handle of security. I said recently that when you find a story which you have not verified, you quickly share it, causing panic.
“But I want to reassure both citizens and non-Nigerians living in this country that the security agencies are on top of this matter; of course, the terrorists will not stop to try to embarrass or intimidate the government but what I am saying is that this country is safe and there is no cause for alarm, no course to panic.”
The Minister stressed that those who gave the advisory are within their rights to say their people should go home if they want to but the Nigerian government has the responsibility to keep its country safe.
“Those who gave that advisory are within their right to say their people should go home if they want to but we as a country have a responsibility to keep our country safe and we are not going to be stampeded at all by whatever any government decides to tell its people,” he said.
Lai Mohammed strongly advised Nigerians to shun the temptation of spreading unverified stories and be patriotic.
“The concrete step is that people should stop spreading unverified news. Look how many school shootings or senseless killings happen in the US. So, have they been able to predict what is going to happen or which school is going to be the next victim? Do Nigerians in the US actually also feel safe? All countries have their own challenges, we have our own and we are facing them,” he added.
PIAK
