CAN chair tasks religious leaders on responsible information sharing

Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Plateau State Chapter, Reverend Dunka Gomwalk, has urged religious leaders to always verify information before sharing it with their followers while encouraging interfaith dialogue, peaceful coexistence, and responsible information sharing.

Gomwalk spoke at a two-day workshop in Jos, titled: “Scaling faith-based resilience against disinformation and FIMI’, organised by Alkalanci, a fact-checking and media literacy organisation, in collaboration with the Institute for Media and Digital Innovation (IMDIL).

The chairman, who noted that unverified information had caused significant harm in Nigeria, warned that unverified social media posts and hasty public comments could exacerbate religious tension and undermine peacebuilding efforts.

Similarly, Mallam Haruna Tank, the representative of Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), said the deliberate dissemination of false information could incite fear, widen divisions, and trigger crises, especially as political activities intensify ahead of the 2027 elections.

He urged Christians and Muslims to uphold the principles of their respective religions by promoting honesty, peaceful coexistence, and responsible communication.

In his address, Oriola Odetoye, the Cyber and Hybrid Threats Programme Lead at the United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s Integrated Security Fund (FCDO ISF) West Africa, reaffirmed the UK’s commitment to supporting Nigeria in combating foreign information manipulation.

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The initiative, according to Odetoye, being implemented under the UK-Nigeria Security and Defence Partnership, aims to strengthen Nigeria’s capacity to detect, respond to, and counter information manipulation and other hybrid threats.

Earlier, Alkalanci’s editor, Alhassan Bala, warned that the increasing use of artificial intelligence to create fake images, videos, and audio recordings posed a serious threat to Nigeria’s democratic process and public safety.

He said false information could be deliberately spread to inflame religious tensions, provoke violence, and lead to the loss of lives and property.

“Misleading political narratives ahead of the 2027 elections may discourage voter turnout and erode public trust. As a result, religious leaders must verify information before sharing it with their congregations,” he said.