Xenophobia: Lai Mohammed claims - Videos About Attacks In South Africa Are Fake
The minister of information and culture ,Lai Mohammed has claimed some people are using these fake news/videos to foment trouble in the country. has he urged Nigerians to stop the spread of fake videos of purported attacks on citizens in South Africa.
This, Mohammed said on Thursday during a press conference held in Abuja on the attacks held against South African-owned businesses in the country.
According to the federal government, part of its strategies to fight the attack is recalling its high commissioner to South Africa and boycotting the World Economic Forum (WEF) taking place in Cape Town over xenophobic attacks on citizens in that country.
Mohammed who spoke at the press conference reiterated the appeal of the government to citizens not to “resort to self-help by carrying out reprisal attacks against South African businesses in Nigeria”.
“The purpose of this press conference is to reiterate the appeal to Nigerians, who are justifiably angered by the attacks on their compatriots in South Africa, not to resort to self-help by carrying out reprisal attacks against South African businesses in Nigeria,” he said.
“To alert Nigerians to the fact that some unscrupulous people are engaging in disinformation to inflame passion by using fake news and videos of non-related attacks; to very strongly warn the naysayers and hoodlums who might want to capitalise on the widespread disenchantment and anger of Nigerians over the attacks in South Africa to foment mayhem, and to appeal to Nigerians, especially opinion leaders, not to allow raw emotions to guide their response to the attacks.”
He said those spreading fake news are using viral videos purportedly showing how Nigerians are being killed in South Africa.
“One video shows a man who has been set ablaze trying to escape, and those circulating the video identified the man as Nigerian. This is not true,” Mohammed said.
“The video shows Mozambican Ernesto Alfabeto Nhamuave, a victim of xenophobic violence in South Africa in 2008, and it is not that of a Nigerian being attacked in 2019.”
He appealed to opinion leaders and celebrities to be guarded in their comments on the xenophobic attacks, adding that the government would leave no stone unturned in protecting Nigerians anywhere in the world.
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