2023: Lagos State Police Command cautions purveyors of fake news

Etim Ekpimah

The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, Abiodun Alabi, on Thursday, warned purveyors of fake news to desist from spreading misinformation capable of inciting violence in the state as anyone found wanting will be held accountable.

He gave the warning at a-day symposium organized for broadcast, print and online journalists by the State Police Command on fake news and its implication on security, especially in view of the forthcoming elections.

The programme which was held at the Police Officers’ Mess, Ikeja, Lagos was designed to sensitize journalists and media executives on the consequences of misinformation and disinformation.

Declaring the Symposium open, CP Alabi noted that one fake news could lead to the breakdown of law and order during the 2023 elections even beyond the shores of the news purveyor.

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, in a statement said the CP urged the media executives to always fact-check information before sharing. Also lending their voices to the condemnation of fake news at the symposium were the Resident Electoral Commissioner of INEC, Lagos, Mr Olusegun Agbaje, MFR, and representatives from the Department of State Services (DSS), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Inter-Party Advisory Council Nigeria (IPAC), Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC) and the Police Eminent Persons Forum (PEPF).