Army Commander welcomes collaboration with Journalists, wants proper check on fake news

Samuel Luka

The Commander 33 Artillery Brigade, Shadawanka barracks Bauchi, Brigadier General E. Egbe has charged journalists, particularly leaders of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) to work towards fighting against the activities of fake news peddlers for the betterment of Nigeria.

General Egbe gave the charge when he received the Executives of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Bauchi on a courtesy call in his office Wednesday.

The Commander who expressed concerns that the internet space is always inundated with series of fake news from different media bloggers, noted that such scenario is not good for the security of the society.

“We work day-in day-out to secure the Communities but such good efforts and our achievements are mostly under reported. We are not saying some anomalies should go unreported, but let it be verified and reported correctly”, he said.

“We are all partners in the Nigerian project and as such, Journalists should do more of positive reports about the country than the negatives”, the Commander stated.

Brigadier General Egbe further advised the NUJ on the need to equipped its in-house disciplinary mechanisms with a view to ensuring more sanity in Journalism 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 the Facebook and others to ensure that fake news are 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 for collaboration and synergy between his members and the 33 Artillery Brigade Bauchi under his command.

Mallam Mohammed who pointed out that the Correspondents’ chapel comprises of both National and international, print and broadcast reporters as members, added 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 Journalists as major stakeholders in the security project of the country are proud of their efforts.

“As major stakeholders in the security project of Nigeria, we feel we should come and seek for more collaboration in order to contribute our own part to the successes you are recording”, Mallam Mohammed said.