LAGOS, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Nigeria's acting president Yemi Osinbajo Thursday said the government had drawn a line on hate speech and would treat it as an act of terrorism.
He said this while addressing a Security Summit organized by the National Economic Council in Abuja, the nation's capital.
"Hate speech is a species of terrorism; terrorism as it is defined popularly is the unlawful use of violence or intimidation against individuals or groups, especially for political ends," he added.
"The law on hate speech, the Terrorism Act 2011, defines hate speech among other definitions, as an act deliberately done with malice and which may seriously harm or damage a country or seriously intimidate a population," he said.
According to him, the intimidation of a population by words or speech is an act of terrorism and this government intends to take this matter seriously.
"As I said we have drawn a line against hate speech; it will not be tolerated; it will be taken as an act of terrorism and all of the consequences will follow it," he added.
The acting president called on business, religious and political leaders to condemn hate speech in strongest terms especially when such speech came from people of their faith, tribe or group.
He said silence on such speech could only be seen as an endorsement.
He reaffirmed that the primary aim of the government was to secure the lives and property of citizens, adding that the administration would not relent in achieving that vision.
Osinbajo also observed that to tackle insecurity there was the need to fight poverty by all tiers of government.
