The Commander 33 Artillery Brigade, Shadawanka Barracks Bauchi, Brigadier General E. Egbe, has expressed concerns that the internet space is always inundated with a series of fake news stories from different media bloggers, thereby creating unnecessary tension on the horizon.

The Brigade Commander therefore noted that such a scenario is not good for the security of society, especially in the serious fight against insecurity.

Egbe then charged journalists, particularly the leadership of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), to work towards fighting against the activities of fake news peddlers for the betterment of Nigeria.

Brigadier General Egbe was speaking on Wednesday when he received the Executives of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Bauchi State on a courtesy call in his office at the Brigade headquarters at the Shadawanka barracks.

According to him, “We work day-in and day-out to secure the communities, but such good efforts and our achievements are mostly underreported. We are not saying some anomalies should go unreported, but let them be verified and reported correctly.”

“We are all partners in the Nigeria Project, and as such, journalists should do more positive reports and analysis about the country than negative ones,” the commander stated.

Brigadier General Egbe further advised the NUJ on the need to equip its in-house disciplinary mechanisms with a view to ensuring more sanity in the journalism profession as well as curbing the menace of fake news.

During an interactive session, one of the Army officers advised the NUJ to, if possible, collaborate with social media platforms such as Facebook and others to ensure that fake news is not allowed to thrive.

Earlier speaking, the Chairman of the Correspondents’ Chapel, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Bauchi, Mallam Ahmed Mohammed, informed the Commander that the purpose of the courtesy visit was to seek collaboration and synergy between his members and the 33 Artillery Brigade, Bauchi, under his command.

Ahmed Mohammed pointed out that the Correspondents’ Chapel comprises both national and international print and broadcast reporters as members, adding that the members are shakers and movers of journalism in the state.

The Chairman, while commending the Commander and his personnel for securing Bauchi State from bandits, kidnappers, and other criminally minded persons, said that journalists, as major stakeholders in the security project of the country, are proud of their efforts.

The Chapel Chairman stressed that, “As major stakeholders in the security project of Nigeria, we feel we should come and seek more collaboration in order to contribute our own part to the successes you are recording.”

He then sought a response to inquiries from journalists in the line of reporting, stressing that delay in response to inquiries leads to incorrect reports because, according to him, news reporting is time-bound even though it is not at the detriment of fair and objective reporting. (Nigerian Tribune)

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