CATE decries false naratives of reported attacks on soldiers by Boko Haram

The Coalition Against Terrorism and Extremism (CATE) has noted with dismay the resumption of the stories that report phantom Boko Haram attacks on the Nigerian Military after such reports disappeared from the radar following repeated military gains against the terrorists.

This development is condemnable from whatever perspective it is viewed and CATE so condemn it.

The Nigerian Military – the Army, Air Force and Navy (in Lake Chad) have continued to deliver on their mandate with the decisive blows they have dealt against the terrorists in recent weeks.

It is understandable that terrorist sympathizers and supporters will renew the campaign to make their fighters appear formidable but to lie about incidents that never took place is to stretch imagination beyond what is considered sane.

Contrary to the inaccurate accounts of terrorists’ exploits, CATE is fully on the ground in many of the areas where the anti-terror efforts are taking place and can confirm that the reports about Boko Haram killing soldiers are false to the extent that such could only happen in Dubai where the group’s spokesperson, Ahmed Salkida, is in hiding.

In pursuit of such hallucinatory Boko Haram successful attacks, CATE has reliably gathered that the propaganda task team of the terrorists have perfected plans to shift their activities to the cyber space where they will launch a blitz of false reports about successful attacks against military interests in the northeast of Nigeria.

The scale on which international media outlets will replicate these stories will leave unsuspecting people in doubt as to what constitute the truth and what amounts to falsehood.

CATE therefore urges that the media and all other stakeholders within and outside the theatre of war against terrorism must be careful about what they accept on face value.

The advisory is pertinent for the media as they have burden of being accurate in what they report about the war against terrorism, not just because of the requirement to be factual but in order not to jeopardize the high spirit amongst troops that have continue to unleash wrath of the Nigerian state on the terrorists.

We further challenge the media to report military onslaught against Boko Haram, which are genuine and verifiable, with the same candour they use to report claims of victory by Boko Haram terrorists.

This challenge is particular to the domestic media organizations that often feel constrained to reproduce reports by international wire agencies that have been found to actively manipulate their contents to favour the terrorists.

It is uncharitable to ignore the impact that false reporting have on the people at the epicentre of Boko Haram activities, especially when the news agencies that float these report will not apply the same template in reporting crisis in their countries of origin.

It smacks of modern day racism to actively equate an internationally designated terrorist group like Boko Haram with a sovereign state in a manner that favours the terrorists while placing the country at disadvantage.

Comrade Gabriel Onoja
National Coordinator