He also warned Nigerians to be wary of false information being spilled out by some persons and groups parading themselves as serving the interest of the nation.

He said “Both Christians and Muslims have said that the media blatantly expresses bias against their religion, and that journalists will deliberately not report their story or perspective, outside the immediate communities affected by a specific incident, the general public’s understanding of violent events is often incomplete. In some cases, false news about attacks have incited the people to undertake revenge attacks in various parts of the country. In 2017, Nigeria experienced the continuation of three major conflicts that provided a fertile ground for the propagation of hate speech. These were the resurgence of the Biafra Agitation in the South East, the clash between the Army and members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, popularly referred to as the Shiites Movement in the North West, and the transformation of the localized farmers-herders conflict and cattle rustling to the large scale rural banditry that had taken an ethno-religious character across much of the North West and North Central zones of the country. Across the country, scores of people were killed as a result of these conflicts, further providing fuel for the wildfire of hate speech. More than at any time in the recent history of the country, hate speech became widely used in public discourse and communication. They fueled a dynamic that weakened national cohesion and made it difficult for the country to collectively address the threat to peace that affected the population in the country.”

The Niger Senator who stated that he won’t shy away from his responsibility because of the threats, added that the bill was not passed in the eight Senate because he left it alone at that time because the political atmosphere was already getting charged at its first reading.

He said “Like somebody wrote to me, over the past ten days or so since the bill was read for the first time, I have received all kinds of messages some even including threats. But I am not bothered about that. In all of these, if I receive one commendation, it gladdens my heart and I did receive many commendations and one stood out and said there is so much hate in this country. We must check it. If you meet those who have lost their loved ones arising from religious or ethnicity, intolerance, and the like, I don’t think they will be smiling with you when you tell them hate speech is nonsense or does not exist. They have felt, seen and are living as victims of hate speech. I reckon in my thinking that the atmosphere was not right for even debating the subject matter because, at the end of the day, we will be missing the point. So I did not pursue it. On assessing the reason why I introduced the bill in the 8th senate in the first instance, I have seen that these reasons are not abated. If anything, they are actually assuming a life of their own. So I decided that this bill be reintroduced and it was on the 12th of this month. They will demonise me, I am not moved because this is the subject of life and no one buys life in the market. Nobody came with a spare”.