The Federal Government on Tuesday asked the social media giant, Facebook, to stop the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) from using its platform to incite violence in the country.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, made the call at a meeting with a team from Facebook in Abuja.
He said several people had been killed in the South-East because of the group’s activities, adding that Facebook has no reason whatsoever for allowing the use of its platform to the organisation whose goal was to destabilise the country.
The latest warning came about one year after the federal government suspended another social media platform, Twitter, for allegedly promoting hate speech and other activities undermining the country’s existence.
Mohammed 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. They use both English and their local language as it suits them.
“Our social media people have been monitoring these separatists, anarchists and purveyors of hate, and have been reporting their atrocious actions to Facebook, but all they get are default responses that their complaints have been received and are being looked into.
“Most often than not, nothing is done about such complaints. The truth is that whatever Facebook is doing to check these people is mere tokenism and is totally ineffective.”
