The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Abiodun Alabi, has warned purveyors of fake news to desist from spreading misinformation capable of inciting violence in the state, vowing to hold anyone found wanting accountable.
Alabi gave this warning at a-day symposium organized for broadcast, print and online journalists by the State Police Command.
It centred on fake news and its implication on security, especially in view of the forthcoming elections.
The programme, which held at the Police Officers’ Mess, Ikeja, Lagos, was designed to sensitise journalists and media executives on the consequences of misinformation and disinformation.
Declaring the symposium open, Alabi noted that one fake news could lead to the breakdown of law and order during the 2023 Elections even beyond the shores of the news purveyor.
The CP therefore, urged the media executives to always fact-check information before sharing.
Also lending their voices to the condemnation of fake news at the symposium were the Resident Electoral Commissioner of INEC, Lagos, Olusegun Agbaje, and representatives from the Department of State Services, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Nigeria Union of Journalists, National Broadcasting Commission, Inter-Party Advisory Council Nigeria, Nigerian Bar Association, Center for Democracy and Development, Police Community Relations Committee and Police Eminent Persons Forum.