PAMED Calls on Federal Govt to Restrain Military from Monitoring Social Media Activities

Tope Omabegho

The Partnership for Media and Democracy (PAMED) has called on the federal government to restrain the Nigerian Army from monitoring the social media activities of Nigerians, describing the action as a violation of the rights of Nigerians to freedom of expression and the privacy of their communications guaranteed by the Constitution and international human rights instruments to which Nigeria is a party.

PAMED, comprising International Press Centre (IPC), Media Rights Agenda (MRA) and the Institute for Media and Society (IMS), in a statement, said that it had painstakingly studied the declaration by the Nigerian Army that it would henceforth monitor the social media for alleged ‘anti-government, anti-military and anti-security’ information and expressed concern that such a move provides enormous opportunities for abuse of power and the violation of the fundamental rights and freedoms of Nigerians by the military.

The Director of Defence Information, Major-General John Enenche, said the move became necessary in the light of troubling activities and misinformation capable of jeopardizing the unity of the country.

He specifically declared: “What are we doing? In the military, we are now taking on it more seriously than ever. We have our strategic media centres that monitor the social media to be able to sieve out and react to all the ones that will be anti-government, be anti-military, (and) be anti-security.”

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