2023 ELECTIONS: ECAPI PRESIDENT JOINS LAGOS STATE POLICE COMMAND TO WARN AGAINST THE SPREAD OF FAKE NEWS By Our Correspondent

By Our Correspondent

ThePresident/Founder, ECAPI Worldwide, Amb. (Mayor) Samuel Eniola Adam*, yesterday joined the *Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Police Command, CP Abiodun Alabi, fdc, mnim, psc, to warn purveyors of fake news to desist from spreading misinformation capable of *inciting violence in the State even as the Police Authorities warned that anyone found wanting will be held accountable. 

ECAPI President while addressing the audience made up of journalists and media practitioners said, "it is imperative for us to know that fake news is nothing but the evil of creating unnecessary tension in the society with the sole aim of changing people’s believe and orientations towards a particular situation. At the moment, nothing seems to threaten the peace and tranquility of the Nigeria State like the menace of fake news because it has emerged as the propeller to the forces that engender insecurity". 

 He went further to State that, if news is ‘fake’, it misinforms the public and democratic debate is polluted at the very source thereby leading to unpopularity of electoral victories with the attendant potential of rejection and revolt by the people.

 Most of the panics and anxieties that characterize elections in Nigeria are generated and transmitted by peddlers of fake stories* who have no incentive to be honest. Using the instrumentality of the social media, they fabricate false insightful materials about political parties, political actors, and electoral body to cause tension in the country. 

 He further suggested ways of curbing the menace of Fake News to include *removing the economic incentives for traffickers, building new products to identify and limit the spread on the social media and the internet, rebuilding the trust in traditional media, Government should promote media and digital literacy, engaging with civil society and other stakeholders to raise awareness about the issue of fake news amongst others.

In his remarks, the *Commissioner of Police, CP Abiodun Alabi, who was ably represented by the DCP, Admin, DC Bassey Ewa at a one-day symposium organized for broadcast, print and online journalists by the State Police Command warned participants on fake news and its implication on security, especially in view of the forthcoming elections. 

 The Program, which was brilliantly anchored by the Police Public Relations Officer, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, was held at the Police Officers’ Mess, Ikeja, Lagoswas 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 CP therefore, urged media executives to always fact-check information before sharing. Also lending their voices to the condemnation of fake news at the symposium were the Lagos State INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr Olusegun Agbaje, MFR, mni. Also present at the event were Chief P. K. Sham (ECAPI's Director of Foreign Affairs), Alhaji Ade Adeniran (Chairman, ECAPI's Elders Advisory Council), Dr. Glover (ECAPI's Patron & Rep India Community), Prince Samuel Obinuga (ECAPI's Director of Undercover Operations), Mr. Paul Okilo from the Department of State Services (DSS), AC Afuye Tony Andrew from Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Barr. Tobena Chikwue (NBA Lagos Chapter), Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Inter-Party Advisory Council Nigeria (IPAC), Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Center for Democracy and Development (CDD), Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC) and the Police Eminent Persons Forum (PEPF) and several media Organisations.