Terrorists now use social media for recruiting new followers in Nigeria - Minister
- Isa Pantami, the minister of communication says social media is what terrorists are using to recruit new followers
- The minister in a recent lecture noted that the digital space is how insurgents now perpetrate evil in the country
- Pantami called on security agencies to tap into the use of technology to curb terrorist activities
Nigeria’s minister of communications and digital economy, Isa Pantami on Tuesday, February 11, stated that terrorists are now recruiting new followers and communicating through social media.
Pantami disclosed this while delivering a lecture on counter-terrorism and counter violent extremism in Abuja. He added that the terrorists also use social media as a means of perpetrating crimes in the country, The Guardian reports.
He said: “It is evident that terrorists are exploiting social media, encrypted communications, and the dark web to spread propaganda, recruit new followers and coordinate attacks.”
The minister further explained that Nigeria authorities can prevent counter-terrorism and extremism in the country with an upgrade in skill and technology.
During the lecture, Pantami suggested that with adequate data through technologies like Big Data Analytical, Internet of Things (IOT), Robotics and Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI) security organizations in the country can approach their fight against terrorism.
The communications minister is of the opinion that the security agencies in Nigeria can oust terrorists from the country by tapping into available technology and using potent tools.
He went on to explain that through the use of Nigeria’s military and intelligence agencies analyse data gathered “to understand background, motives, modus operandi and methods of communication of persons or groups of interest.”
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Similarly, former lawmaker Shehu Sani has faulted the federal government for often declaring that it had defeated Boko Haram insurgents. The former senator who represented Kaduna Central at the Senate during the eight National Assembly suggested that the repeated claims of having defeated Boko Haram insurgents came too early.
He stated that claiming to have defeated Boko Haram was like raising a trophy in the middle of the race.
In another report, the Borno state government confirmed that about 1,400 repentant Boko Haram suspects have been released and resettled back into the society by the Nigerian military. Babakura Jato who is the state's commissioner for information made this known on Monday, February 10.
In an apparent reaction to the concerns of some Nigerians about the danger of releasing repentant Boko Haram suspects, Jato explained that most of the released persons were not Boko Haram members.
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