Insecurity: Nigerian media causing more problem — Tinubu’s aide

The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has accused sections of the Nigerian media of contributing to the country’s insecurity challenges through the way incidents are reported.

Speaking on Arise Television on Tuesday, Onanuga said security challenges exist but should not be interpreted as evidence that Nigeria is completely overrun by criminal activities.

According to him, news reports often present isolated incidents in a manner that suggests insecurity has spread across every part of the country.

“The problem is that the media in Nigeria, they’re even creating the problem. The way they’re reporting security is as if the entire country is consumed,” he said.

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Onanuga maintained that millions of Nigerians continue to travel and carry out their daily activities without encountering security threats, stressing that the country should not be viewed as being under constant siege.

“Don’t let people threaten you that the entire country is under siege. It’s not. There are security breaches. There are major security breaches,” he added.

While acknowledging concerns over kidnappings and violent attacks, the presidential aide noted that many reported incidents occur at night, despite repeated warnings from security agencies discouraging late-night travel.

He said he often pays attention to the timing of attacks reported in the media and has observed that several occur during late evening or early morning hours.

“Any time I read about either a kidnap or an attack somewhere, sometimes I look at the time. I say, wow, it happened 8 p.m., it happened 9 p.m., sometimes 1 a.m. A long time ago, the police told people to stop travelling at night,” Onanuga said.

Onanuga also referenced the experience of a government official who recently completed a lengthy road journey without any security incident, arguing that such examples challenge the narrative that movement across Nigeria has become impossible due to insecurity.