Director-General, State Security Service, Mr.
Ekpenyong Ita, has said terrorists crave media attention in order to intimidate
and instil fear into people.
Declaring open a workshop for media
professionals at the Institute for Security Studies,Bwari, Abuja on Monday, Ita
explained that the objective of terrorist groups was to maximise publicity for
their attacks in order to have a larger than life reputation.
He said, “Publicity is the oxygen craved by
terrorists. When they carry out attacks, they want as much publicity as
possible and when the media sensationalise such an attack, the terror groups
have achieved their objectives of getting wide media publicity which is aimed
at intimidating and installing fear into people.”
He therefore urged journalists to avoid
sensationalism as they provide information to the public.
The DG, who said many terrorist groups pursue the
interests of their sponsors, noted that nobody knows the interests being
pursued by Boko Haram members “as they do not represent Muslims.”
According to him, terrorists often get more
attention from the media than security agencies that strive to protect the
nation from the evil machinations of such violent groups as Boko Haram.
He added, “Acts of terrorism are over-covered by
the media while the activities of security agencies were under-covered.
Terrorists strive to project the interests of those they are acting for
but we don’t know the interest Boko Haram members are fighting
because they don’t represent Muslims.”
The Director-General, Nigerian Television
Authority, Alhaji Musa Maiyaki, on the occasion called for a cordial
relationship between the media and security agencies
Punch
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