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The Federal Government has asked Facebook and other social media platforms to stop allowing the Indigenous People of Biafra from using their platforms to allegedly incite violence and instigate ethnic hatred in Nigeria.
The government said that since IPOB had been proscribed and classified as a terrorist organisation, “Facebook has no justification for yielding its platform to the organisation to further its campaign of hate and destabilisation of the country.”
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, according to a statement by his Special Assistant (Media), Segun Adeyemi, made the demand in Abuja at a meeting with a team from Facebook.
He said, “I have called this meeting to enable us to discuss the increasing use of Facebook by separatists and anarchists, especially those of them based outside the country, to instigate violence and ethnic hatred in Nigeria.
“For whatever reason, they seem to have now chosen Facebook as their platform of choice. And their tools include disinformation, incendiary statements and hate speech. They use Facebook broadcasts to reach their followers, who are in thousands. They tag those opposed to their violent ways as ‘saboteurs’ who must be attacked, maimed and killed.
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They use both English and their local language as it suits them,” Mohammed said.
He said the actions of the proscribed group have real-life implications, adding, “By purveying hate and inciting violence, people are getting killed while private and public property are being attacked and destroyed. Security agencies and other symbols of government are their choice targets.”
The minister said despite the numerous complaints to Facebook on the activities of IPOB, nothing has been done by the company to curtail the group’s excesses on the social media platform.
