The Federal Government has warned Nigerians against leading the country into a Rwanda-like genocide with hate speech.
The government also described as “disrespectful” the insinuations in various quarters that the presidency was doing nothing about recent killings by suspected herdsmen in some parts of the country.
The Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President, Mallam Garba Shehu made these known on Friday.
He said, “Those beating the gongs of war and fanning the embers of discord must remember what prevailed in Rwanda before the genocide of the early 90 s, during which hundreds of thousands of lives were lost as a result of consistent hate speech spewing from that country ’s media .
“We must learn to express our grievances and criticisms without resorting to gutter language or to name calling, and the press has a responsibility to maintain that , even if it means calling their columnists to order.
“Calling him ( Buhari ) a murderer is not only grossly disrespectful but unfair , especially when the President has written a letter to the Senate detailing his efforts to quell the crisis in Benue State .
“The President had also dispatched the Minister of Interior and the Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of operations for an on – the -spot assessment of the situation in the aftermath of the unfortunate incident , and receiving a direct briefing from the IG the following day .”
Shehu also appealed to the media to exercise caution in their coverage of security and humanitarian situations in the country.