Joan Babasanmi
In a bid to combat terrorism and violent extremism, media practitioners have been tasked with promoting accurate and verifiable content, and adhering to ethical codes of conduct in their reporting.
This was one of the key recommendations made at the end of a 2-day sensitization workshop organized by the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC)/Transparency International in Nigeria (TI-Nigeria) in Maiduguri, Borno state.
The sensitization workshop was made possible through the collaboration of CISLAC/TI-Nigeria, Auwal Rafsanjani, Dawdal Kura Radio International, Borno state, Amb. Abba Tuja, and NSCDC, Borno State Command, DCC Muhammad Umar.
The participants stated the need for strengthening community-based surveillance, system .
“We need to strengthen the surveillance system through strict adherence to the rule of law. Other measures include increasing public investment in education, regulating informal financial systems, fostering unity among community members, and building nationalism spirit among citizens”,
The group highlighted that enhancing social values will discourage socio-economic-driven temptations at individual level, to block recruitment channel for violent extremism.
Other issues of priority include strict adherence to ethical code of conduct in content generation and coverage across media outfits to reduce social tensions and conflict tendency.
In addition, the participants called for maintainable of law and order to protect critical infrastructural facilities and alleviate socio-economic worries of the citizens, while restoring hopes and aspiration in the North East.
The group further noted that regulating social media activities through comprehensive legal provisions taking cognisance of human rights, will prevent misleading contents that aggravate the activities of violent extremists and terrorism financiers.
“Promoting accurate and verifiable content through objective coverage and publicity, we will preserve sensitivity in public information and communication”.
