The National Broadcasting Commission, NBC, and the National Orientation Agency, NOA, have raised the alarm over the dissemination and consumption of fake news in Nigerian society.
The two federal organisations raised the alarm in Umuahia when the Abia State Director of NOA, Mrs Regina Iroha, and the management of the agency paid a courtesy call to the office of the NBC.
She condemned the prevalence of fake news, especially on social media, and solicited the cooperation of the Abia State office of the National Broadcasting Commission, in tackling the menace, in line with the agency’s mandate of news censorship.
Iroha disclosed that the NOA had been mandated to train women and youth of Abia Central Senatorial District in building a people of peace.
She declared that her office was out to tackle the creation and spread of fake news and hate speech in the country.
Responding, the State Director of NBC, Mrs Ima Ubom, reiterated that fake news and other deceptive elements have become sources of menace and destructive measures in society.
Ubom, who maintained that urgent and decisive steps have to be taken to check these threats, commended the NOA for its efforts in building a society of peaceful co-existence.
She added that NBC has been discharging its responsibilities as a regulatory agency by preventing the airing and spreading of fake news, adding that it had also maintained its campaign against hate speech.
