By Rotimi Ijikanmi, Tukur Muntari
Abuja, Sept. 7, 2019
The Federal Government has debunked the report being circulated on social media of a bomb explosion at the South African High Commission in Abuja, on Saturday.
In a statement issued in Abuja, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alh. Lai Mohammed, said the report “is fake news orchestrated by desperate opposition to cause panic and chaos among the populace”.
Meanwhile, some youths in Kano on Saturday staged a peaceful protest against xenophobic attacks on Nigerians living in South Africa.
The youth, who marched from Zoo Road to Audu Bako Secretariat along the State Road, carried placards with various inscriptions condemning the action on Nigerians.
The Information Minister’s statement was signed by Mr. Segun Adeyemi, the Special Adviser to the minister.
Mohammed, said the video of the purported bomb explosion, was that of a bomb explosion at Emab Plaza, near Banex, Abuja, which occurred on June 25, 2014.
The minister said it was apparent that the desperate opposition had decided to use fake news and disinformation as handy tools in their avowed determination to make Nigeria ungovernable, having lost woefully at the polls.
“A pattern is emerging of the antics of the desperate opposition to latch on to the use of fake news and disinformation as a strategy to trigger chaos in the country.
“On Friday Sept. 6, 2019, they doctored and circulated the video of my appearance on Channels Television in January 2015 (when I was the spokesman of the APC) to make it look like I was begging Nigerians to forgive President Buhari for not having a school certificate.
“Worse still, they posted the video afresh, giving the impression it happened last Thursday and that I acted in my capacity as Minister of Information and Culture.
“One would have expected a party that trumpets its belief in the rule of law, a party that challenged the result of the last presidential election in court, to wait patiently for the impending judgment instead of engaging in underhand tactics and resorting to self-help,” he said.
The minister appealed to Nigerians to be very discerning at this time, and to check the veracity of any information they received.
`’This is just the beginning. Nigerians should expect an explosion of fake news and disinformation in the days and weeks ahead,’’ he said.
The Minister warned those behind the orchestration of fake news and disinformation campaign to stop forthwith or be made to face the music.
The protesters in Kano, who called on the South African government to bring an end to the attacks, said they would not fold their arms while Nigerians are being attacked and killed.
Spokesman for the protesters and Chairman of Joint Action Campaign Against Xenophobic Attack, Khalid Sanusi urged the Federal Government to take urgent steps to check the ugly trend.
Sanusi said the youth would continue to show their anger to such attacks and picket companies owned by South Africa in Nigeria, until measures were taken to end the attacks.
He attributed the high rate of unemployment in South Africa as the major reason behind the xenophobic attacks and advised the South African government to tackle the issue.
“It must create job opportunities for the teeming number of unemployed youths in their country,” he said, stressing however that there was no justification for attacking others simply because of the failure of South African leaders.
NAN reports that diplomatic relations between Nigeria and South Africa has gone sour as a result of series of xenophobic attacks by South Africans on some Nigerian citizens.
