Stop giving terrorists free publicity – Minister of information to media

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has called on Nigerian media organisations to reduce the level of publicity given to terrorists and other criminal groups, warning that extensive coverage of their activities only helps amplify fear and insecurity in the country.

Speaking at a security summit organised by the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) in partnership with the State Security Service (SSS), also known as the DSS, Idris stressed that journalists must strike a balance between press freedom and their responsibility to support national stability.

Idris expressed concern that media coverage often highlights the actions of terrorists, bandits, and kidnappers more prominently than the efforts of security agencies working to combat them.

He maintained that responsible journalism does not amount to censorship, but requires careful judgment in deciding what is published and how it is framed.

“Please take these terrorists and criminals off your front pages. This is what they crave for free of charge,” he said.

“It saddens my mind. I feel very unhappy when I see our front pages, when I see our headlines, reporting the activities of these criminals and underplaying the ones by the security agencies,” he said.

“No one is calling for censorship. Nobody is asking the media not to do its job, but we must know that we must have a country to keep,” he added.