IGP Warns Fake News Peddlers

Inspector-general of police (IGP) Usman Baba Alkali has cautioned journalists against circulating fake news, and hate speeches.

The IGP also emphasised on the need for journalists to fact check their stories before publishing.

He also urged media practitioners to adhere to journalism ethics in their reportage.

Baba spoke at the public presentation of a book titled: “Media and Nigeria’s Constitutional Democracy.”

The theme of the programme was: “Media, Civic Space and Democracy: Threats, constraints and resilience.”

The IGP, who was represented by the Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi said: “We should be mindful of the excessiveness of our reportage, engagement or other constructive reasoning.”

According to him, everything in life has an elastic limit, therefore he urged journalists  not to go beyond their elastic limit so that the elastic material will not break.

Speaking further, he said the media should always understand the legal framework guiding security operations adding that they need to work together with the media.

“There is no function police force is going today without calling the press, it is not done anywhere, so we need to understand the legal framework better, so that we can always relate better,” he said.

On the conflict between security agencies and media practitioners, Baba said: “You can rule out conflicts between the two because they work together. They are on the same page and they coexist together, but the conflict must be managed in such a way that will not escalate to cause a crisis.”

Speaking on the free press in the country, the co-author of the book, Paul Obi said: “We should look at the constitutional rights such as the right to freedom of expression and media freedom in the country given that our constitution provided those rights but often time, are not operationalised.

“What we need to do is to ensure that those rights are not breached or limited and it should work within our constitutional framework and any aspect that prevents the media from performing constitutional rights, we should raise the alarm.”