Christopher Musa, the Minister of Defence, has issued a warning about the possible repercussions of recent calls for protests made by prominent Nigerian social media personalities.

Speaking on the development, the Defence Minister pointed out that although there are no restrictions on the right to peaceful protest, there are worries that violent actors could take control of such events and cause harm or even death.

“I have been seeing of recent some social media giants in Nigeria going around trying to rise protests. Nobody is stopping anyone from protesting, but we should always remember the unintended consequences, because these protests might be hijacked and people might be killed or injured,” he said.

He also highlighted the Ministry of Defense’s continuous efforts to raise public awareness of military activities, especially in conflict-prone areas like the North East, North West, and North Central.

He said that during active operations, the Ministry is thinking about integrating certain media experts with troops.

He clarified that the goal of this program is to give media professionals and journalists direct access to the risks, difficulties, and realities that Nigerian armed troops experience in the field.

“We are making efforts to provide avenues for some of these media experts to be embedded with our troops when they are going on an operation… so that they can have a feel of what they troops go through and the challenges ahead. Maybe they’ll have a better understanding,” he added.