Edo State Director of the Department of State Services (DSS), Ibrahim Halilu has called on media practitioners to join in the fight against fake news.
Halilu made the call when members of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Edo state council, paid a courtesy visit to the Benin office of the security agency.
The DSS boss who said fake news is one of the problems confronting the country, however urged media practitioners especially journalists to at all time put the interest of the nation first in the cause of performing their constitutional responsibility.
“Most of the problems the country is confronting is fake news. For that, I want to call on media practitioners, particularly you the Correspondents’ Chapel, to do all that is within your power to fight against it, especially those carried by the social media.
“I also want the media to be carful of certain informations that are not of national interest and capable of jeopardizing state security. Fake news being spread by the social media users are not healthy for our national cohesion and development,” he said.
Halilu who commended journalists in the state for the good disposition with personnel of the agency, noted that the media contributions to the national development can not be over-emphasized, especially through the dissemination of information to members of the public as well as reportage of governments activities.
While urging the media personnel to sustain the good working relationship with officials of the agency, Halilu assured that the operatives are always open to partnership with journalists, even as he urged them to cross-check facts before publication.
Earlier, the chairman of the Correpsondents’ chapel, Nefishetu Yakubu, who introduced the new executives of the chapel to the top management of the security agency, however solicited the assistance of the agency to recover the chapel’s properties from the immediate past exco officials of the chapel.
Yakubu who said the request was occasioned by the emergence of a new executives in the recent election, added that the properties have become overdue to be handed over to the new executive by the predecessor.
“I will like, Sir, to request for your organization’s support to recover the chapel’s properties that have become overdue to be handed over to the new Exco by our predecessors. The list of the chapel’s properties is attached for your necessary action.
“Sir, we have written to the leadership of the past Exco to hand over the properties in their possession, but we did not get results. We have asked the state council to come to our aid and although we are hopeful, we still feel that we must enlist the support of well-meaning organizations like yours, so that matters don’t get out of hand. We will like, Sir, to ask you to help us,” she stated.
She however pledged the chapel’s support to work with the agency and other organizations for the public and national interest while contributing its quota as citizens to build a better Nigeria.
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