LAGOS, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The Nigerian government has warned social media platforms to stop allowing the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), a separatist group in south Nigeria, to use their platforms to incite violence and instigate ethnic hatred in the country.
The Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed gave the warning in Abuja, Nigeria's capital, on Tuesday at a meeting with a team from Facebook.
Mohammed said the government would monitor Facebook and other platforms closely in the days ahead to ensure compliance with the demand, as it steps up the campaign for the responsible use of social media.
"We have always advocated a responsible use of social media and have consistently called on all stakeholders to join us in achieving this," Mohammed said.
He said since the IPOB had been proscribed and classified as a terrorist organization, Facebook had no justification for yielding its platform to the organization to further its campaign of hate and destabilization of the country.
"I have called this meeting to enable us to discuss the increasing use of Facebook by separatists and anarchists, especially those of them based outside the country, to incite violence and ethnic hatred in Nigeria," the minister said.
He said the actions of the proscribed group have real-life implications.
"By purveying hate and inciting violence, people are getting killed while the private and public property is being attacked and destroyed. Their preferred targets are security agencies and other government symbols," he added.
There have been in recent months several armed attacks targeted at prisons, police stations and other government facilities in south Nigeria, resulting in the deaths of police officers and other security operatives. ■