The Nigeria Army on Wednesday inaugurated an election observation centre at the Army Headquarters, Abuja, to compliment Operation Safe Conduct also launched to ensure a peaceful 2019 general elections.
The Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai while launching the situation room said it has been reconfigured for real-time monitoring of events during the 2019 General Elections.
He said post-election violence which characterized previous elections highlights the challenges posed by incidents of electoral violence in the country.
He said, “Lessons learnt from previous election violence witnessed have categorized the nature or types of violence into three broad categories namely: pre-election violence, violence during elections and post-election violence.”
He said 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.
He said having observed this cycle of violence reoccur severally in our past electioneering processes, the Nigerian Army (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.
He said, “It is in this light that the NA has launched Operation Safe Conduct and also gone ahead to establish this situation room for real-time monitoring.”
He said, “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 sows confusion among the electorate or even easily ignites violence during the period of the 2019 general elections,” he added.
He said the Army through the Cyber Warfare Command has been engaged in monitoring, identifying and countering various forms of fake news and propaganda being put out by terrorists and subversive elements.
