The National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu has cautioned media managers against promoting terrorists’ propaganda and ideologies through their reportage of security issues.

Ribadu gave the advice at a 2-Day workshop on “Effective Reporting: Towards Strengthening Alternatives to Terrorist Ideology” organised by the National Counter-Terrorism Centre – Office of the National Security Adviser (NCTC-ONSA), in Abuja.

Represented by the National Coordinator, NCTC, Major General Adamu Laka, the NSA said the kind of information being processed and passed could be functional with positive expectations or dysfunctional with consequences that are negative and life threatening

The training was organised in collaboration with the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR).

“Terrorist groups have continued to provide dysfunctional information through social media platforms, networking sites, and online propaganda including mainstream and traditional mediums of communication in such manner appealing for easy recruitment of many especially among the youths”, he said.

The National Security Adviser said the training was part of efforts in response to the call of the UN Secretary General’s Plan of Action for member states to develop and implement a national communication strategy.

Director, National Peace Academy (NPA) in IPCR, Dr Bosede Awodola, said the IPCR firmly believed that peace was an all-inclusive process, hence the need for partnership with NCTC to organise the workshop.

Awodola said that Nigeria’s democracy was being seriously challenged and her peace, constantly threatened by the activities of terrorist groups.

She said the problem was increasingly pervasive with associated criminality that was heightening the fear and insecurity in the country.