Nigeria Under Attack- Senator

The Deputy Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, has raised the alarm that Nigeria was under attack by some element who hide under the guise of freedom of speech.

The senator cautioned that these people needed to be checked otherwise the country would have herself to be blamed.

Abdullahi who sponsored the Anti-Hate Speech stressed that there are elements working hard to kill the legislative bill from making headway adding that, those trying to frustrate the passage of the bill were guilty of hate speeches.

He further warned that if nothing is done by Nigerians to resist the manipulative tendencies of such groups or persons, the country would record more victims of hate speech from gruesome killings associated with religious intolerance and ethnic bigotry.

He bemoaned that all Nigerians are under attack from the ills of hate speech, adding that everyone regardless of political affiliation is exposed to ‘hate’ as a result of Nigeria’s societal orientation which breeds segregation on all fronts.

Abdullahi said “What Nigerians do not know at the moment is that we are confronted by a big threat to our unity and existence as a people.

“The issue of hate in our society is fast becoming a norm that has left a lot of people as victims. The twist to the unfortunate situation is that some groups and persons have taken advantage of it to prey on others in a bid to advance their self-serving agenda.

“These purveyors of hate speech, knowing that the game is up for them with the introduction of the Anti-hate speech bill, are pretending to be advocates of free speech in order to blackmail lawmakers from passing the bill into law.

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“As we speak, not even your belonging to any political party can insulate you and your family from hate speech, because in one way or the other, everyone falls into a category that is open to segregation at some point. It could be on the basis of religion, ethnicity, profession or even class in society.

“It doesn’t matter if you are Peoples Democratic Party or All Progressives Congress, Christian or Muslim, Rich or Poor, in Government or Opposition, Northerner or Southerner, Igbo, Hausa, Yoruba, Tiv, Ijaw or Urhobo, everyone is exposed to hate in this country.

“Except something is done about hate speech, we are yet to see the last of the horrors that may arise from it. We are all not insulated from this wicked problem of hate speech.”