Former governor supports monitoring of social media by military

Dr Babangida Aliyu, the immediate past governor of Niger, has voiced his support for monitoring of the social media by the military to ensure security and unity of the nation.

Aliyu made the remark in Minna on Sunday during a media chat with newsmen.

He said it was not bad if the Federal Government decides to monitor the social media through the military.

“I support monitoring of the social media by the security agencies to control negative stories that can influence the lives of unsuspecting subscribers to do the wrong thing they never intended to do.

“You cannot say negative things about a person or an institution especially when they are false without being challenged.

“Some governments close the social media or part of it when they are in crisis in order to save their countries from collapse because of people who may not understand the use of social media,’’ he said.

Aliyu noted that though the social media was a source for dissemination of both positive and negative information, “we should be careful not to use it wrongly to the detriment of the society.

“The security agencies may be right in monitoring the social media, but we should be watchful so that the security agencies will not go to the extreme of infringing on people’s right,’’ he added.

The Director of Defence Information, Maj.-Gen. John Enenche recently told newsmen that the activities of Nigerians on the social media were being monitored for hate speech, anti-government and anti-security information.

He said that the move to monitor social media became necessary in the light of dissemination of false information capable of jeopardising the unity of the country.

Aliyu was the governor of Niger from May 2007 to May 2015.