Media Houses In Nigeria under Attack by the Government, Free Speech Suppressed 

West Africa–– The Nigerian government warn media houses and groups of a fierce resistance to maintain national security, unity and peace.

The country’s minister of information and culture, Lai Mohammed, said Thursday that the government will clamp down on any radio or television station that broadcasts hate speech,

The instruction was part of attempts to stem the growing tide of hate speech in the country, Information Minister Mohammed said at a National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) meeting in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

“As a matter of fact, the challenges facing the NBC have never become more daunting, considering the increasing propensity of some radio and television stations across the country to turn over their platforms to the purveyors of hate speech,” he said.

“It is the responsibility of the NBC to put these broadcast stations in check before they set the country on fire,” the minister added.

The information minister mentioned the discomforting part played by a radio station in fueling the genocide in Rwanda in 1994 which led to the loss of over 800,000 lives in 100 days.

He urged the National Broadcasting Commission not to allow the spreaders of hate speech to lead Nigeria to the path of devastation.

“If you tune into many radio stations, for example, you will be shocked by the things being said, the careless incitement to violence and the level of insensitivity to the multi-religious, multi-ethnic nature of our country,” he added.