Aliyu Abdullahi, deputy chief
whip of the senate, says opponents of the “hate speech bill” are ignorant of
the dangers that loom if it is not passed into law.
Many Nigerians have kicked
against the bill, describing it as a threat to their fundamental rights.
But in a statement on Sunday,
Abdullahi, who is the sponsor of the bill, said its opponents are only
pretending to protect freedom of speech.
He asked people to beware of
“false information being spilled out by some persons and groups parading
themselves as serving the interest of the nation”.
Citing a report by the United
States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) on “Overcoming
Dangerous Speech and Endemic Religious Divides in Central Nigeria”, Abdullahi
said persons with strong bias capable of escalating ethnic and religious
violence are infiltrating the media.
He said such persons and groups
are opposed to the passage of “hate speech” law by the national assembly would
put an end to their trade.
“Both Christians and Muslims have
said that the media blatantly expresses bias against their religion, and that
journalists will deliberately not report their story or perspective,” he said.
“Outside the immediate
communities affected by a specific incident, the general public’s understanding
of violent events is often incomplete.
“In some cases, false news about
attacks have incited the people to undertake revenge attacks in various parts
of the country.”
Abdullahi, who cited another
report by the Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), said
there are strong indicators making it imperative for the introduction of
legislation by the national assembly to criminalise hate speech which is
“responsible for high cases of violence and killing”.
Making specific reference to the
CITAD report, Abdullahi said: “In 2017, Nigeria experienced the continuation of
three major conflicts that provided a fertile ground for the propagation of
hate speech.
“These were the resurgence of the
Biafra Agitation in the South East, the clash between the Army and members of
the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, popularly referred to as the Shiites Movement
in the North West, and the transformation of the localized farmers-herders
conflict and cattle rustling to the large scale rural banditry that had taken
an ethno-religious character across much of the North West and North Central
zones of the country.
“Across the country, scores of
people were killed as a result of these conflicts, further providing fuel for
the wildfire of hate speech.
“More than at any time in the
recent history of the country, hate speech became widely used in public
discourse and communication.
“They fueled a dynamic that
weakened national cohesion and made it difficult for the country to
collectively address the threat to peace that affected the population in the
country.”
your views are equally hate speech because it is only dictators that rule with decrees
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