The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Buratai on Wednesday inaugurated the 2019 General Elections Situation Room for the Nigerian Army, saying it is a proactive mechanism by the Army to keep abreast with situation reports on the conduct of the elections.
According to Buratai, the inauguration of the Nigerian Army Situation Room was informed by events that characterized the previous elections, and the imperative of taking precautionary steps to prevent break down of law and order before, during and after the elections.
Speaking shortly after the inauguration of the Situation Room, Lt Gen. Buratai said: “Recall that the NA had earlier launched OP SAFE CONDUCT which is one of the series of exercises undertaken by the NA to ensure the success of the 2019 General Elections. The NA Situation Room has been reconfigured for real-time monitoring of events during the 2019 General Elections.
“It is pertinent to state that the post-election violence which characterized previous elections clearly highlights the challenges posed by incidents of electoral violence in the country. Hence, the NA saw the need to devise new strategies of stemming such ugly tides or completely eliminating same.
“Lessons learnt from previous election violence witnessed have categorized the nature or types of violence into 3 broad categories namely: pre-election violence, violence during elections and post-election violence.
” Violence at the various phases of elections include thuggery, snatching of ballot boxes and papers or kidnapping or abduction of electoral officers and party agents and wanton destruction of lives and properties, respectively.
“Having observed this cycle of violence reoccur severally in our past electioneering processes, the NA has thus deemed it necessary to adopt a proactive and responsive posture that would allow us to better respond to early signs of insecurity before they could escalate into a major security challenge. It is in this light that the NA has launched OP SAFE CONDUCT and also gone ahead to establish this situation room for real-time monitoring.
” At this point, it cannot be overstated that fake news and false propaganda pose a dangerous threat to both the democratic process and military operations. The use of media, especially social media to deliberately spread fake news should be a thing of concern to all.
“The rapid spread of fake news has been responsible for misinformation, thereby having an influence on public sentiment and sow confusion among the electorate or even easily ignite violence during the period of the 2019 General Elections.
“The NA through the Cyber Warfare Command has been continually engaged in monitoring, identifying and countering various forms of fake news and propaganda being put out by terrorists and subversive elements. However, in this period of the elections, there is need to collaborate with all stakeholders to confront the menace of fake news.“
