Maku Attributes Increased Boko Haram Violence On Media Publicity
Labaran Maku, the Minister of Information, has taken a swipe at media practitioners over their reportage of the activities of the radical Islamist sect, Boko Haram.
* The Minister of Information Labaran Maku
Speaking on Wednesday at a press briefing in Abuja after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, he alleged that it was the generous media coverage that journalists were giving to the Islamic sect that had increased their onslaught in the country.
Maku noted that extra attention being given to the activities of Boko Haram in some parts of the country was all they needed to unleash more terror on innocent citizens.
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According to Leadership, the minister, while fielding questions from State House correspondents, stated that terrorist groups all over the world excel more when they get maximum media reportage of their attacks, adding that terrorist only aim was to destabilise the polity and also display their evil acts.
"Editors are just too happy to make headline of the terrorists bomb explosion, forgetting that the more you give them headline the more they are energized because that is all they need to remain in business. If you black them out of the news for six months, they will feel frustrated," Maku said.
"But as it is now, our media are fond of casting political headlines, attacking the government. They make it look as if it is the terrorists that deserved all the attention, when it is obvious that we are not dealing with enemies on one side. The enemies are with us," he added.
Maku, however, cleared the air that most media practitioners in the country had not fully understand the tactics used in guerrilla warfare as such war was always being promoted by the attention it gets through newspaper publications, especially headlines and commentaries.
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The minister further condemned the media for continuously blaming the government instead of joining them to rebuke and fight Boko Haram.
Boko Haram is the first group that has been designated a terrorist sect in Nigeria although they are not the first to have taken to arm struggle towards the pursuit of accomplishing their agitations.
Source: Legit.ng
